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329 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
334 @setchapternewpage odd
341 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
343 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
349 @top The Gnus Newsreader
353 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
354 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@acronym{NNTP}, local
355 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
358 @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change the following line:
359 This manual corresponds to No Gnus v0.11.
370 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
371 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
373 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
374 being accused of plagiarism:
376 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
377 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
378 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
379 can even read news with it!
381 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
382 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
383 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
384 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
385 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
388 @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change the following line:
389 This manual corresponds to No Gnus v0.11.
391 @heading Other related manuals
393 @item Message manual: Composing messages
394 @item Emacs-MIME: Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
395 @item Sieve: Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
396 @item PGG: @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
397 @item SASL: @acronym{SASL} authentication in Emacs.
403 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
404 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
405 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
406 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
407 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
408 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
409 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
410 * Various:: General purpose settings.
411 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
412 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, @acronym{FAQ}, History, Internals.
413 * GNU Free Documentation License:: The license for this documentation.
414 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
415 * Key Index:: Key Index.
417 Other related manuals
419 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
420 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
421 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
422 * PGG:(pgg). @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
423 * SASL:(sasl). @acronym{SASL} authentication in Emacs.
426 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
430 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
431 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
432 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
433 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
434 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
435 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
436 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
437 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
438 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
439 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
440 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
444 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
445 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
446 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
450 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
451 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
452 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
453 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
454 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
455 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
456 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
457 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
458 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
459 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
460 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
461 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
462 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
463 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
464 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
465 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
466 * Non-ASCII Group Names:: Accessing groups of non-English names.
467 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
471 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
472 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
473 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
477 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
478 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
479 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
480 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
481 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
485 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
486 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
487 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
488 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
489 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
493 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
494 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
495 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
496 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
497 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
498 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
499 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
500 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
501 * Threading:: How threads are made.
502 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
503 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
504 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
505 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
506 * Sticky Articles:: Article buffers that are not reused.
507 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
508 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
509 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
510 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
511 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
512 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
513 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
514 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
515 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
516 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
517 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
518 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
519 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
520 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
521 or reselecting the current group.
522 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
523 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
524 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
525 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
527 Summary Buffer Format
529 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
530 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
531 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
532 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
536 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
537 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
539 Reply, Followup and Post
541 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
542 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
543 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
544 * Canceling and Superseding::
548 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
549 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
550 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
551 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
552 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
553 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
557 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
558 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
560 Customizing Threading
562 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
563 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
564 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
565 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
569 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
570 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
571 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
572 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
573 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
574 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
578 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
579 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
580 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
584 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
585 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
586 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
587 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
588 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
589 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
590 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
591 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
592 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
593 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
594 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
596 Alternative Approaches
598 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
599 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
601 Various Summary Stuff
603 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
604 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
605 * Summary Generation Commands::
606 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
610 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
611 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
612 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
613 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
614 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
618 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
619 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
620 * POP before SMTP:: You cannot send a mail unless you read a mail.
621 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
622 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
623 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
624 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
625 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
626 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
630 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
631 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
632 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
633 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
634 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
635 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
636 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
637 * Email Based Diary:: Using mails to manage diary events in Gnus.
638 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
642 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
643 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
644 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
645 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
646 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
647 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
648 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
652 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
653 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
657 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
658 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
659 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
660 * NNTP marks:: Storing marks for @acronym{NNTP} servers.
664 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
665 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
666 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
667 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
668 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
669 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
670 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
671 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
672 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
673 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
674 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
675 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
676 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
680 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
681 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
682 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
684 Choosing a Mail Back End
686 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
687 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
688 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
689 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
690 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
691 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
692 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
697 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
698 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
699 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
700 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
701 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
702 * Customizing W3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/W3 from Gnus.
706 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
707 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
708 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
709 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
710 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
711 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
715 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
716 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
717 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
718 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
719 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
723 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
727 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
728 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
729 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
733 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
734 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
738 * The NNDiary Back End:: Basic setup and usage.
739 * The Gnus Diary Library:: Utility toolkit on top of nndiary.
740 * Sending or Not Sending:: A final note on sending diary messages.
744 * Diary Messages:: What makes a message valid for nndiary.
745 * Running NNDiary:: NNDiary has two modes of operation.
746 * Customizing NNDiary:: Bells and whistles.
748 The Gnus Diary Library
750 * Diary Summary Line Format:: A nicer summary buffer line format.
751 * Diary Articles Sorting:: A nicer way to sort messages.
752 * Diary Headers Generation:: Not doing it manually.
753 * Diary Group Parameters:: Not handling them manually.
757 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
758 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
759 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
760 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
761 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
762 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
763 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
764 * Agent and flags:: How the Agent maintains flags.
765 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
766 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
767 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
768 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
769 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
770 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
774 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
775 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
776 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
780 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
781 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
782 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
786 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
787 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
788 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
789 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
790 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
791 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
792 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
793 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
794 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
795 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
796 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
797 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
798 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
799 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
800 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
801 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
805 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
806 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
807 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
811 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
812 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
813 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
814 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
815 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
816 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
817 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
818 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
819 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
820 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
821 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
822 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
823 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
824 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
825 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
826 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
827 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
828 * Thwarting Email Spam:: Simple ways to avoid unsolicited commercial email.
829 * Spam Package:: A package for filtering and processing spam.
830 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
831 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
835 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
836 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
837 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
838 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
839 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
840 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
841 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
842 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
846 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
847 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
848 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were
850 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
851 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
855 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
856 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
857 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
858 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
862 * Spam Package Introduction::
863 * Filtering Incoming Mail::
864 * Detecting Spam in Groups::
865 * Spam and Ham Processors::
866 * Spam Package Configuration Examples::
868 * Extending the Spam package::
869 * Spam Statistics Package::
871 Spam Statistics Package
873 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
874 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
875 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
879 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
880 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
881 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
882 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
883 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
884 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
885 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
886 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
887 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
891 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
892 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
893 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
894 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
895 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
896 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
897 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
898 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
899 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
903 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
904 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
905 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
906 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
907 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
908 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
909 * No Gnus:: Very punny.
913 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
914 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
915 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
916 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
920 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
921 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
922 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
923 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
924 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
925 * Group Info:: The group info format.
926 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
927 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
928 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
932 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
933 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
934 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
935 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
936 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
937 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
941 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
942 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
946 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
947 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
953 @chapter Starting Gnus
956 If you haven't used Emacs much before using Gnus, read @ref{Emacs for
961 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
962 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
963 your Emacs. If not, you should customize the variable
964 @code{gnus-select-method} as described in @ref{Finding the News}. For a
965 minimal setup for posting should also customize the variables
966 @code{user-full-name} and @code{user-mail-address}.
968 @findex gnus-other-frame
969 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
970 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
971 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
973 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
974 variables in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file. This file is similar to
975 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when Gnus starts.
977 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
978 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
981 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
982 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
983 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
984 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
985 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
986 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
987 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
988 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
989 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
990 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
994 @node Finding the News
995 @section Finding the News
998 @vindex gnus-select-method
1000 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
1001 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
1002 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
1003 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
1006 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @acronym{NNTP} server is where
1007 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
1010 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
1013 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
1016 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
1019 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1020 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1021 server is running Leafnode (which is a simple, standalone private news
1022 server); in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1024 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1026 @cindex @acronym{NNTP} server
1027 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
1028 @env{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1029 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1030 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter.
1031 If that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs
1032 as an @acronym{NNTP} server. That's a long shot, though.
1034 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1035 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1036 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1037 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1039 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1040 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1041 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1042 @acronym{NNTP} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1043 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
1044 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1045 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1046 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1047 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1050 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1052 However, if you use one @acronym{NNTP} server regularly and are just
1053 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1054 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1055 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1056 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1057 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1059 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1061 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1062 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1063 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1064 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1065 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1066 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1069 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1070 you would typically set this variable to
1073 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1076 Note: the @acronym{NNTP} back end stores marks in marks files
1077 (@pxref{NNTP marks}). This feature makes it easy to share marks between
1078 several Gnus installations, but may slow down things a bit when fetching
1079 new articles. @xref{NNTP marks}, for more information.
1082 @node The First Time
1083 @section The First Time
1084 @cindex first time usage
1086 If no startup files exist (@pxref{Startup Files}), Gnus will try to
1087 determine what groups should be subscribed by default.
1089 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1090 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
1091 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1092 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1095 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1096 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1097 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1099 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1100 help you with most common problems.
1102 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1103 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1107 @node The Server is Down
1108 @section The Server is Down
1109 @cindex server errors
1111 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1112 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1113 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1115 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1116 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1117 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1118 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1119 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1120 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1121 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1123 @findex gnus-no-server
1124 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1126 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1127 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1128 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1129 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1130 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1131 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1132 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1136 @section Slave Gnusae
1139 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1140 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1141 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1142 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1144 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1145 @file{.newsrc} file.
1147 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1148 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1149 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1150 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1151 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1152 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1153 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1156 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1157 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1158 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1159 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1160 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1161 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1162 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1163 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1165 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1166 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1168 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1169 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1170 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1171 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1172 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1179 @cindex subscription
1181 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1182 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1183 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1184 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1185 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1186 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1187 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1188 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1189 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1192 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1193 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1194 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1198 @node Checking New Groups
1199 @subsection Checking New Groups
1201 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1202 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1203 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1204 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1205 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1206 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1207 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1208 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1209 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1210 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1212 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1213 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1214 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1215 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1216 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1217 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1218 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1219 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1220 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1221 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1222 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1224 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1225 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1226 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1227 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1228 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1229 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1232 @node Subscription Methods
1233 @subsection Subscription Methods
1235 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1236 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1237 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1239 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1240 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1242 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1246 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1247 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1248 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1249 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1250 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1252 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1253 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1254 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1255 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1257 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1258 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1259 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1261 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1262 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1263 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1264 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1265 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1266 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1267 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1268 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1269 up. Or something like that.
1271 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1272 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1273 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1274 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1275 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1277 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1278 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1279 Kill all new groups.
1281 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1282 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1283 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1284 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1285 topic parameter that looks like
1291 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1294 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1299 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1300 A closely related variable is
1301 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1302 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1303 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1304 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1307 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1308 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1309 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1310 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1313 @node Filtering New Groups
1314 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1316 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1317 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1318 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1321 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1324 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1325 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1326 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1327 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1328 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1329 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1330 subscribing these groups.
1331 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1332 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1334 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1335 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1336 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1337 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1338 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1339 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1340 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1341 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1343 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1344 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1345 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1346 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous,
1347 but I thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is
1348 more meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is
1349 used more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new
1350 groups that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1351 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1352 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1355 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1356 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1359 @node Changing Servers
1360 @section Changing Servers
1361 @cindex changing servers
1363 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another.
1364 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1365 very flaky and you want to use another.
1367 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1368 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1372 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1373 @acronym{NNTP} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1374 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1375 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1378 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1379 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1380 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1381 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1383 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1384 @findex gnus-change-server
1385 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1386 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1387 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1388 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1389 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1391 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1392 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1393 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1394 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1395 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1397 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1398 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1399 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1400 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1401 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1402 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1404 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1405 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1406 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1407 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1409 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1410 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1411 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1412 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1413 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1414 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1415 cache for all groups).
1419 @section Startup Files
1420 @cindex startup files
1425 Most common Unix news readers use a shared startup file called
1426 @file{.newsrc}. This file contains all the information about what
1427 groups are subscribed, and which articles in these groups have been
1430 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1431 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1432 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1433 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1434 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1435 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1436 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1438 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1439 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1440 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1441 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1442 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1443 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1445 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1446 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1447 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1448 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1449 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1450 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1451 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1452 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1453 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which can be
1454 convenient if you use a different news reader occasionally, and you
1455 want to read a different subset of the available groups with that
1458 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1459 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1460 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1461 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1462 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1463 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1464 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1465 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1466 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1467 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1468 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1469 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1471 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1472 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1473 @vindex version-control
1474 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1475 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1476 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1477 If you want version control for this file, set
1478 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1479 @code{version-control} variable.
1481 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1482 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1483 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1484 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1485 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1486 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1487 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1488 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1489 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1490 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1493 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1494 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1496 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1497 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1500 @vindex gnus-init-file
1501 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1502 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1503 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus-init} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1504 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1505 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1506 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1507 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1508 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1509 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1510 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order). If Emacs was invoked with
1511 the @option{-q} or @option{--no-init-file} options (@pxref{Initial
1512 Options, ,Initial Options, emacs, The Emacs Manual}), Gnus doesn't read
1513 @code{gnus-init-file}.
1518 @cindex dribble file
1521 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1522 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1523 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1524 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1525 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1528 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1529 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1532 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1533 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1534 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1536 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1537 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1538 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1539 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1540 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1541 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1543 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1544 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1545 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1548 @node The Active File
1549 @section The Active File
1551 @cindex ignored groups
1553 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1554 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1555 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1557 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1558 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1559 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1560 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1561 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1562 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1563 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1566 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1567 @c if you set it to anything else.
1569 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1571 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1572 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1573 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1575 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1576 you actually subscribe to.
1578 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1579 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1580 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1581 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1583 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1584 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1585 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1586 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1587 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1588 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1590 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1591 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1592 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1595 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1596 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1597 @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1598 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1599 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1600 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1602 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1603 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1605 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1606 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1608 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1609 secondary select methods.
1612 @node Startup Variables
1613 @section Startup Variables
1617 @item gnus-load-hook
1618 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1619 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1620 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1621 times you start Gnus.
1623 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1624 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1625 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1627 @item gnus-startup-hook
1628 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1629 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1631 @item gnus-started-hook
1632 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1633 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1636 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1637 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1638 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1639 generating the group buffer.
1641 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1642 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1643 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1644 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1645 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1646 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1647 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1648 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1650 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1651 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1652 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1653 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1654 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1655 @file{~/.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1657 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1658 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1659 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1661 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1662 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1663 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1665 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1666 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1667 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1668 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1674 @chapter Group Buffer
1675 @cindex group buffer
1677 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1679 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1680 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1681 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1682 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1683 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1684 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1685 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1686 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1687 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1688 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1689 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1690 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1691 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1692 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1693 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1694 @c human rights at 9...
1697 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1698 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1699 long as Gnus is active.
1703 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1704 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1705 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1706 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1707 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1708 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1709 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1710 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1716 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1717 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1718 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1719 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1720 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1721 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1722 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1723 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1724 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1725 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1726 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1727 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1728 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1729 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1730 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1731 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1732 * Non-ASCII Group Names:: Accessing groups of non-English names.
1733 * Searching:: Mail search engines.
1734 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1738 @node Group Buffer Format
1739 @section Group Buffer Format
1742 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1743 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
1744 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1747 You can customize the Group Mode tool bar, see @kbd{M-x
1748 customize-apropos RET gnus-group-tool-bar}. This feature is only
1751 The tool bar icons are now (de)activated correctly depending on the
1752 cursor position. Therefore, moving around in the Group Buffer is
1753 slower. You can disable this via the variable
1754 @code{gnus-group-update-tool-bar}. Its default value depends on your
1757 @node Group Line Specification
1758 @subsection Group Line Specification
1759 @cindex group buffer format
1761 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1762 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1764 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1767 25: news.announce.newusers
1768 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1773 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1774 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1775 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1776 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1778 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1779 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1780 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1781 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1782 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1783 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1785 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1787 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1788 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1789 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1790 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1791 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1793 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1794 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1795 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1797 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1802 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1805 Whether the group is subscribed.
1808 Level of subscribedness.
1811 Number of unread articles.
1814 Number of dormant articles.
1817 Number of ticked articles.
1820 Number of read articles.
1823 Number of unseen articles.
1826 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1827 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1829 Gnus uses this estimation because the @acronym{NNTP} protocol provides
1830 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1831 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1832 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1833 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1834 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1835 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job.
1837 The nnml backend (@pxref{Mail Spool}) has a feature called ``group
1838 compaction'' which circumvents this deficiency: the idea is to
1839 renumber all articles from 1, removing all gaps between numbers, hence
1840 getting a correct total count. Other backends may support this in the
1841 future. In order to keep your total article count relatively up to
1842 date, you might want to compact your groups (or even directly your
1843 server) from time to time. @xref{Misc Group Stuff}, @xref{Server Commands}.
1846 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1849 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1858 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1859 comment element in the group parameters.
1862 Newsgroup description. You need to read the group descriptions
1863 before these will appear, and to do that, you either have to set
1864 @code{gnus-read-active-file} or use the group buffer @kbd{M-d}
1868 @samp{m} if moderated.
1871 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1877 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1883 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1887 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1890 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1891 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1892 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1893 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1894 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1897 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1899 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1903 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1906 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1910 The disk space used by the articles fetched by both the cache and
1911 agent. The value is automatically scaled to bytes(B), kilobytes(K),
1912 megabytes(M), or gigabytes(G) to minimize the column width. A format
1913 of %7F is sufficient for a fixed-width column.
1916 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1917 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1918 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1919 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1920 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1921 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1926 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1927 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1928 group, or a bogus native group.
1931 @node Group Mode Line Specification
1932 @subsection Group Mode Line Specification
1933 @cindex group mode line
1935 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1936 The mode line can be changed by setting
1937 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1938 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1942 The native news server.
1944 The native select method.
1948 @node Group Highlighting
1949 @subsection Group Highlighting
1950 @cindex highlighting
1951 @cindex group highlighting
1953 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1954 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1955 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1956 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1957 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1959 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1963 (cond (window-system
1964 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1965 (defface my-group-face-1
1966 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1967 (defface my-group-face-2
1968 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t)))
1969 "Second group face")
1970 (defface my-group-face-3
1971 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1972 (defface my-group-face-4
1973 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1974 (defface my-group-face-5
1975 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1977 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1978 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1979 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1980 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1981 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1982 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1985 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1987 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1994 The number of unread articles in the group.
1998 Whether the group is a mail group.
2000 The level of the group.
2002 The score of the group.
2004 The number of ticked articles in the group.
2006 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
2007 @var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
2009 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
2010 topic being inserted.
2013 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
2014 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
2015 functions for snarfing info on the group.
2017 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
2018 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
2019 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
2020 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
2021 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
2024 @node Group Maneuvering
2025 @section Group Maneuvering
2026 @cindex group movement
2028 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
2029 expected, hopefully.
2035 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
2036 Go to the next group that has unread articles
2037 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
2043 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
2044 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
2045 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
2049 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2050 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2054 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2055 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2059 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2060 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2061 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2065 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2066 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2067 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2070 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2076 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2077 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2078 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2083 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2084 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2085 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2089 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2090 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2091 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2094 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2095 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2096 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2097 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2100 @vindex gnus-summary-next-group-on-exit
2101 If @code{gnus-summary-next-group-on-exit} is @code{t}, when a summary is
2102 exited, the point in the group buffer is moved to the next unread group.
2103 Otherwise, the point is set to the group just exited. The default is
2106 @node Selecting a Group
2107 @section Selecting a Group
2108 @cindex group selection
2113 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2114 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2115 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2116 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2117 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2118 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2119 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
2120 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
2121 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
2122 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
2124 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2125 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2126 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2128 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2129 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2134 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2135 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2136 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2137 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2138 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2142 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2143 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2144 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2145 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2146 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2147 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2148 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2149 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2150 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2151 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2154 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2155 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2156 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2157 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2158 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2161 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2162 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2163 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2164 doing any processing of its contents
2165 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2166 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2167 manner will have no permanent effects.
2171 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2172 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should
2173 consider to be a big group. If it is @code{nil}, no groups are
2174 considered big. The default value is 200. If the group has more
2175 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2176 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many
2177 articles should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a
2178 negative number (@var{-n}), the @var{n} oldest articles will be
2179 fetched. If it is positive, the @var{n} articles that have arrived
2180 most recently will be fetched.
2182 @vindex gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup
2183 @code{gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup} is the same as
2184 @code{gnus-large-newsgroup}, but is only used for ephemeral
2187 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles
2188 In groups in some news servers, there might be a big gap between a few
2189 very old articles that will never be expired and the recent ones. In
2190 such a case, the server will return the data like @code{(1 . 30000000)}
2191 for the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, for example. Even if there
2192 are actually only the articles 1-10 and 29999900-30000000, Gnus doesn't
2193 know it at first and prepares for getting 30000000 articles. However,
2194 it will consume hundreds megabytes of memories and might make Emacs get
2195 stuck as the case may be. If you use such news servers, set the
2196 variable @code{gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles} to a positive number.
2197 The value means that Gnus ignores articles other than this number of the
2198 latest ones in every group. For instance, the value 10000 makes Gnus
2199 get only the articles 29990001-30000000 (if the latest article number is
2200 30000000 in a group). Note that setting this variable to a number might
2201 prevent you from reading very old articles. The default value of the
2202 variable @code{gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles} is @code{nil}, which
2203 means Gnus never ignores old articles.
2205 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2206 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2207 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2208 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2209 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2210 Which article this is is controlled by the
2211 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2217 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2220 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2223 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2225 @item unseen-or-unread
2226 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2227 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2231 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2235 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2236 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2238 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2239 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2240 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2241 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2245 @node Subscription Commands
2246 @section Subscription Commands
2247 @cindex subscription
2255 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2256 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2257 Toggle subscription to the current group
2258 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2264 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2265 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2266 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2267 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2273 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2274 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2275 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2281 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2282 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2285 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2286 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2287 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2288 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2289 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2295 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2296 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2300 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2301 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2304 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2305 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2306 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2307 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2308 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2309 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2310 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2311 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2312 @file{.newsrc} file.
2316 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2326 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2327 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2328 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2329 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2330 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2331 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2336 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2337 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2338 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2342 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2343 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2344 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2346 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2347 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2348 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2349 If you have switched from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another, all your marks
2350 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2351 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2358 @section Group Levels
2362 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2363 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2364 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2365 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2366 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2368 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2374 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2375 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2376 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2377 prompted for a level.
2380 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2381 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2382 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2383 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2384 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2385 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2386 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2387 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2388 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2389 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2390 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2391 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2392 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2393 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2394 reasons of efficiency.
2396 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2397 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2399 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2400 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2401 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2402 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2403 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2404 groups are hidden, in a way.
2406 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2407 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2408 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2409 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2410 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2411 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2413 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2414 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2415 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2416 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2417 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2418 list of killed groups.)
2420 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2421 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2422 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2424 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2425 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2426 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2427 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2428 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2429 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2430 relevant valid ranges.
2432 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2433 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2434 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2435 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2436 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2437 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2440 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2441 one with the best level.
2443 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2444 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2445 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2448 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2449 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2450 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2451 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2454 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2455 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2456 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2457 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2459 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2460 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2461 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2462 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2463 to 5. The default is 6.
2467 @section Group Score
2472 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2473 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2474 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2477 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2478 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2479 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2480 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2481 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2482 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2483 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2484 least significant part.))
2486 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2487 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2488 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2489 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2490 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2491 action after each summary exit, you can add
2492 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2493 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2494 slow things down somewhat.
2497 @node Marking Groups
2498 @section Marking Groups
2499 @cindex marking groups
2501 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2502 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2503 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2504 bidding on those groups.
2506 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2507 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2508 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2516 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2517 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2523 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2524 Remove the mark from the current group
2525 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2529 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2530 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2534 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2535 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2539 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2540 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2544 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2545 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2546 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2549 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2551 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2552 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2553 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2554 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2555 the command to be executed.
2558 @node Foreign Groups
2559 @section Foreign Groups
2560 @cindex foreign groups
2562 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2563 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2564 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2565 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2568 Changes from the group editing commands are stored in
2569 @file{~/.newsrc.eld} (@code{gnus-startup-file}). An alternative is the
2570 variable @code{gnus-parameters}, @xref{Group Parameters}.
2576 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2577 @cindex making groups
2578 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2579 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2580 to subscribe to @acronym{NNTP} groups (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
2584 @findex gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group
2585 Make an ephemeral group (@code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group}). Gnus
2586 will prompt you for a name, a method and an @dfn{address}.
2590 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2591 @cindex renaming groups
2592 Rename the current group to something else
2593 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2594 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2600 @findex gnus-group-customize
2601 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2605 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2606 @cindex renaming groups
2607 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2608 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2612 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2613 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2614 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2618 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2619 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2620 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2624 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2626 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2627 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2632 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2633 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2637 @cindex (ding) archive
2638 @cindex archive group
2639 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2640 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2641 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2642 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2643 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2644 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2645 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2649 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2651 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2652 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2653 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2654 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2658 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2660 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2661 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2662 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2666 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2667 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2669 Make a group based on some file or other
2670 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2671 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2672 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2673 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2674 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2675 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2676 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2677 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2678 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2682 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2683 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2684 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2685 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2689 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2693 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2694 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2695 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2696 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2697 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2698 @xref{Web Searches}.
2700 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2701 to a particular group by using a match string like
2702 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2706 @findex gnus-group-make-rss-group
2707 Make a group based on an @acronym{RSS} feed
2708 (@code{gnus-group-make-rss-group}). You will be prompted for an URL.
2712 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2713 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2714 This function will delete the current group
2715 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2716 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2717 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2718 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2719 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} groups), though.
2723 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2724 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2725 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2729 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2730 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2731 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2734 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2737 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2738 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2739 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2740 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2741 groups from different @acronym{NNTP} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2742 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2746 The following commands create ephemeral groups. They can be called not
2747 only from the Group buffer, but in any Gnus buffer.
2750 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group
2751 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group
2752 @vindex gnus-gmane-group-download-format
2753 Read an ephemeral group on Gmane.org. The articles are downloaded via
2754 HTTP using the URL specified by @code{gnus-gmane-group-download-format}.
2755 Gnus will prompt you for a group name, the start article number and an
2758 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group-url
2759 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group-url
2760 This command is similar to @code{gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group}, but
2761 the group name and the article number and range are constructed from a
2762 given @acronym{URL}. Supported @acronym{URL} formats include e.g.
2763 @url{http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12300/focus=12399},
2764 @url{http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/},
2765 @url{http://article.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/},
2766 @url{http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/}, and
2767 @url{http://news.gmane.org/group/gmane.foo.bar/thread=12345}.
2769 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group
2770 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group
2771 Read an Emacs bug report in an ephemeral group. Gnus will prompt for a
2772 bug number. The default is the number at point. The @acronym{URL} is
2773 specified in @code{gnus-bug-group-download-format-alist}.
2775 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-debian-bug-group
2776 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-debian-bug-group
2777 Read a Debian bug report in an ephemeral group. Analog to
2778 @code{gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group}.
2781 Some of these command are also useful for article buttons, @xref{Article
2789 '("#\\([0-9]+\\)\\>" 1
2790 (string-match "\\<emacs\\>" (or gnus-newsgroup-name ""))
2791 gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group 1))
2795 @node Group Parameters
2796 @section Group Parameters
2797 @cindex group parameters
2799 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2801 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2802 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2803 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2804 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2805 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2806 Additionally, you can set group parameters via the
2807 @code{gnus-parameters} variable, see below.
2809 Here's an example group parameter list:
2812 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2816 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
2817 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2818 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2819 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2821 Some parameters have correspondent customizable variables, each of which
2822 is an alist of regexps and values.
2824 The following group parameters can be used:
2829 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2832 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2835 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2836 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2837 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2838 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2839 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2841 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2842 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2843 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2844 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2845 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2846 list address instead.
2848 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2852 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2855 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2858 It is totally ignored
2859 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2860 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2862 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2863 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2864 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2865 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2866 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2868 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2869 @cindex mail list groups
2870 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2871 entering summary buffer.
2873 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2878 @cindex Mail-Followup-To
2879 @findex gnus-find-subscribed-addresses
2880 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2881 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2882 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2883 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2884 headers for your posts to these lists. The second step is to put the
2885 following in your @file{.gnus.el}
2888 (setq message-subscribed-address-functions
2889 '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
2892 @xref{Mailing Lists, ,Mailing Lists, message, The Message Manual}, for
2893 a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2897 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2898 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2899 of whether it has any unread articles.
2901 This parameter cannot be set via @code{gnus-parameters}. See
2902 @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} as an alternative.
2904 @item broken-reply-to
2905 @cindex broken-reply-to
2906 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2907 headers in this group are to be ignored, and for the header to be hidden
2908 if @code{reply-to} is part of @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}. This
2909 can be useful if you're reading a mailing list group where the listserv
2910 has inserted @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv
2911 itself. That is broken behavior. So there!
2915 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2916 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2920 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2921 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2922 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2927 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2928 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2929 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2930 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2931 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2932 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2933 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2935 @strong{Caveat}: Adding @code{(gcc-self . t)} to the parameter list of
2936 @code{nntp} groups (or the like) isn't valid. An @code{nntp} server
2937 doesn't accept articles.
2941 @cindex expiring mail
2942 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2943 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2944 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2946 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2949 @cindex total-expire
2950 @cindex expiring mail
2951 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2952 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2953 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2954 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2957 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2961 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2962 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2963 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2964 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2965 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2966 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2967 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2970 @cindex expiry-target
2971 Where expired messages end up. This parameter overrides
2972 @code{nnmail-expiry-target}.
2975 @cindex score file group parameter
2976 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2977 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2978 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2981 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2982 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2983 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2984 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2987 @cindex admin-address
2988 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2989 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2990 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2991 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2995 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2996 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
3000 Display all articles, both read and unread.
3003 Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
3004 entering the group with @kbd{C-u @var{integer}}.
3007 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
3011 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
3013 Here are some examples:
3017 Display only unread articles.
3020 Display everything except expirable articles.
3022 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
3023 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
3027 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
3028 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
3029 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
3030 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
3031 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
3035 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
3036 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
3037 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
3041 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
3042 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
3043 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
3047 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
3048 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
3049 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
3051 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
3053 @item ignored-charsets
3054 @cindex ignored-charset
3055 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
3056 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
3057 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
3059 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
3062 @cindex posting-style
3063 You can store additional posting style information for this group
3064 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
3065 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
3066 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
3067 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
3069 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
3070 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
3071 like this in the group parameters:
3076 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
3077 (signature "Funky Signature"))
3080 If you're using topics to organize your group buffer
3081 (@pxref{Group Topics}), note that posting styles can also be set in
3082 the topics parameters. Posting styles in topic parameters apply to all
3083 groups in this topic. More precisely, the posting-style settings for a
3084 group result from the hierarchical merging of all posting-style
3085 entries in the parameters of this group and all the topics it belongs
3091 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
3092 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
3096 If it is set, and the setting of @code{mail-sources} includes a
3097 @code{group} mail source (@pxref{Mail Sources}), the value is a
3098 mail source for this group.
3102 An item like @code{(banner . @var{regexp})} causes any part of an article
3103 that matches the regular expression @var{regexp} to be stripped. Instead of
3104 @var{regexp}, you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
3105 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
3106 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
3110 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
3111 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
3112 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
3113 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
3115 For example, if the @samp{INBOX.list.sieve} group has the @code{(sieve
3116 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
3117 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
3118 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
3121 if address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com" @{
3122 fileinto "INBOX.list.sieve";
3126 To generate tests for multiple email-addresses use a group parameter
3127 like @code{(sieve address "sender" ("name@@one.org" else@@two.org"))}.
3128 When generating a sieve script (@pxref{Sieve Commands}) Sieve code
3129 like the following is generated:
3132 if address "sender" ["name@@one.org", "else@@two.org"] @{
3133 fileinto "INBOX.list.sieve";
3137 See @pxref{Sieve Commands} for commands and variables that might be of
3138 interest in relation to the sieve parameter.
3140 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve,
3141 Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
3143 @item (agent parameters)
3144 If the agent has been enabled, you can set any of the its parameters
3145 to control the behavior of the agent in individual groups. See Agent
3146 Parameters in @ref{Category Syntax}. Most users will choose to set
3147 agent parameters in either an agent category or group topic to
3148 minimize the configuration effort.
3150 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
3151 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
3152 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
3153 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
3154 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
3155 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
3156 @code{eval}ed there.
3158 Note that this feature sets the variable locally to the summary buffer.
3159 But some variables are evaluated in the article buffer, or in the
3160 message buffer (of a reply or followup or otherwise newly created
3161 message). As a workaround, it might help to add the variable in
3162 question to @code{gnus-newsgroup-variables}. @xref{Various Summary
3163 Stuff}. So if you want to set @code{message-from-style} via the group
3164 parameters, then you may need the following statement elsewhere in your
3165 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3168 (add-to-list 'gnus-newsgroup-variables 'message-from-style)
3171 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
3172 A use for this feature is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
3173 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
3176 nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps
3179 has the tag @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this
3180 tag can be removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for
3181 the group by putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")}
3182 into the group parameters for the group.
3184 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function. If you want to
3185 hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put something like
3186 @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that group.
3187 @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the (meaningless) result of the
3190 Alternatively, since the VARIABLE becomes local to the group, this
3191 pattern can be used to temporarily change a hook. For example, if the
3192 following is added to a group parameter
3195 (gnus-summary-prepared-hook
3196 '(lambda nil (local-set-key "d" (local-key-binding "n"))))
3199 when the group is entered, the 'd' key will not mark the article as
3204 @vindex gnus-parameters
3205 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
3206 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect (For this
3207 case see @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} as an alternative.).
3211 (setq gnus-parameters
3213 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3214 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
3215 (gnus-summary-line-format
3216 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
3220 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
3224 (gnus-use-scoring t))
3228 (broken-reply-to . t))))
3231 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
3232 the @code{to-group} example shows.
3234 @vindex gnus-parameters-case-fold-search
3235 By default, whether comparing the group name and one of those regexps
3236 specified in @code{gnus-parameters} is done in a case-sensitive manner
3237 or a case-insensitive manner depends on the value of
3238 @code{case-fold-search} at the time when the comparison is done. The
3239 value of @code{case-fold-search} is typically @code{t}; it means, for
3240 example, the element @code{("INBOX\\.FOO" (total-expire . t))} might be
3241 applied to both the @samp{INBOX.FOO} group and the @samp{INBOX.foo}
3242 group. If you want to make those regexps always case-sensitive, set the
3243 value of the @code{gnus-parameters-case-fold-search} variable to
3244 @code{nil}. Otherwise, set it to @code{t} if you want to compare them
3245 always in a case-insensitive manner.
3247 You can define different sorting to different groups via
3248 @code{gnus-parameters}. Here is an example to sort an @acronym{NNTP}
3249 group by reverse date to see the latest news at the top and an
3250 @acronym{RSS} group by subject. In this example, the first group is the
3251 Debian daily news group @code{gmane.linux.debian.user.news} from
3252 news.gmane.org. The @acronym{RSS} group corresponds to the Debian
3253 weekly news RSS feed
3254 @url{http://packages.debian.org/unstable/newpkg_main.en.rdf},
3260 '(("nntp.*gmane\\.debian\\.user\\.news"
3261 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3262 (gnus-article-sort-functions '((not gnus-article-sort-by-date)))
3263 (gnus-use-adaptive-scoring nil)
3264 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
3266 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3267 (gnus-article-sort-functions 'gnus-article-sort-by-subject)
3268 (gnus-use-adaptive-scoring nil)
3269 (gnus-use-scoring t)
3270 (gnus-score-find-score-files-function 'gnus-score-find-single)
3271 (gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%d %I%(%[ %s %]%)\n"))))
3275 @node Listing Groups
3276 @section Listing Groups
3277 @cindex group listing
3279 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3287 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3288 List all groups that have unread articles
3289 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3290 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3291 only lists groups of level five (i.e.,
3292 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3299 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3300 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3301 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3302 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3303 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3304 unsubscribed groups).
3308 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3309 List all unread groups on a specific level
3310 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3311 with no unread articles.
3315 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3316 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3317 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3318 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3323 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3324 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3328 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3329 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3330 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3334 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3335 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3339 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3340 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3341 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3342 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3343 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3344 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3345 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3346 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3350 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3351 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3352 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3356 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3357 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3358 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3362 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3363 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3367 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3368 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3372 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3373 List groups limited within the current selection
3374 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3378 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3379 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3383 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3384 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3388 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3389 @cindex visible group parameter
3390 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3391 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3392 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3393 get the same effect.
3395 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3396 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3397 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3398 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3399 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3402 @node Sorting Groups
3403 @section Sorting Groups
3404 @cindex sorting groups
3406 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3407 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3408 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3409 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3410 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3411 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3416 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3417 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3418 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3420 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3421 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3422 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3424 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3425 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3426 Sort by group level.
3428 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3429 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3430 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3432 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3433 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3434 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3435 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3437 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3438 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3439 Sort by number of unread articles.
3441 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3442 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3443 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3445 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3446 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3447 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3452 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3453 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3457 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3458 some sorting criteria:
3462 @kindex G S a (Group)
3463 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3464 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3465 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3468 @kindex G S u (Group)
3469 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3470 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3471 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3474 @kindex G S l (Group)
3475 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3476 Sort the group buffer by group level
3477 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3480 @kindex G S v (Group)
3481 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3482 Sort the group buffer by group score
3483 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3486 @kindex G S r (Group)
3487 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3488 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3489 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3492 @kindex G S m (Group)
3493 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3494 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name@*
3495 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3498 @kindex G S n (Group)
3499 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3500 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3501 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3505 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3506 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3508 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3509 commands will sort in reverse order.
3511 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3515 @kindex G P a (Group)
3516 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3517 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3518 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3521 @kindex G P u (Group)
3522 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3523 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3524 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3527 @kindex G P l (Group)
3528 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3529 Sort the groups by group level
3530 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3533 @kindex G P v (Group)
3534 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3535 Sort the groups by group score
3536 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3539 @kindex G P r (Group)
3540 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3541 Sort the groups by group rank
3542 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3545 @kindex G P m (Group)
3546 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3547 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name@*
3548 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3551 @kindex G P n (Group)
3552 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3553 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3554 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3557 @kindex G P s (Group)
3558 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3559 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3563 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3567 @node Group Maintenance
3568 @section Group Maintenance
3569 @cindex bogus groups
3574 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3575 Find bogus groups and delete them
3576 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3580 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3581 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3582 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3583 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3584 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3588 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3589 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3590 @cindex expiring mail
3591 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3592 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3593 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3594 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3597 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3598 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3599 @cindex expiring mail
3600 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3601 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3606 @node Browse Foreign Server
3607 @section Browse Foreign Server
3608 @cindex foreign servers
3609 @cindex browsing servers
3614 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3615 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3616 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3617 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3620 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3621 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3622 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3623 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3625 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3630 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3631 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3635 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3636 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3639 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3640 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3641 Enter the current group and display the first article
3642 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3645 @kindex RET (Browse)
3646 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3647 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3651 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3652 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3653 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3659 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3660 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3664 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3665 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3669 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3670 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3671 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3676 @section Exiting Gnus
3677 @cindex exiting Gnus
3679 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3684 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3685 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3686 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3687 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3691 @findex gnus-group-exit
3692 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3693 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3697 @findex gnus-group-quit
3698 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3699 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3702 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3703 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3704 @vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
3705 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3706 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3707 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3713 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3714 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3715 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3721 @section Group Topics
3724 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3725 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3726 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3727 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3728 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3729 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3733 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3734 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3745 2: alt.religion.emacs
3748 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3750 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3751 13: comp.sources.unix
3754 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3756 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3757 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3758 is a toggling command.)
3760 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3761 dum@dots{} Nice tune, that@dots{} la la la@dots{} What, you're back?
3762 Yes, and now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed
3763 under @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
3766 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3767 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3768 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3771 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3775 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3776 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3777 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3778 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3779 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3783 @node Topic Commands
3784 @subsection Topic Commands
3785 @cindex topic commands
3787 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3788 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3789 definitions slightly.
3791 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3792 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3793 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3794 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3795 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3796 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3798 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3805 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3806 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3807 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3811 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3813 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3814 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3815 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3816 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3819 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3820 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3821 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3822 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3826 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3827 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3828 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3829 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3835 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3836 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3837 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3841 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3842 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3843 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3846 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3847 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the ``cut'' part of cut and paste. Then,
3848 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the ``Gnus''
3849 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the ``paste'' part of cut and
3850 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3852 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3853 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3857 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3858 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3865 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3867 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3868 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3869 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3870 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3871 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3872 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3876 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3882 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3883 Move the current group to some other topic
3884 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3885 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3889 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3890 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3894 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3895 Copy the current group to some other topic
3896 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3897 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3901 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3902 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3903 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3907 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3908 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3909 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3913 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3914 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3915 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3916 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3917 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3918 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3919 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3922 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3923 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3927 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3928 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3929 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3933 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3934 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3935 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3939 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3940 Toggle hiding empty topics
3941 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3945 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3946 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3947 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3948 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3951 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3952 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3953 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3954 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3955 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3958 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3959 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3960 @cindex expiring mail
3961 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3962 expiry process (if any)
3963 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3967 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3968 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3971 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3972 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3973 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3977 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3978 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3979 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3982 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3983 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3984 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3987 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3988 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3989 Go to the previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3993 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3994 @cindex group parameters
3995 @cindex topic parameters
3997 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3998 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
4003 @node Topic Variables
4004 @subsection Topic Variables
4005 @cindex topic variables
4007 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
4008 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
4010 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
4011 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
4012 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4025 Number of groups in the topic.
4027 Number of unread articles in the topic.
4029 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
4032 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
4033 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
4034 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
4037 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
4038 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
4040 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
4041 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
4042 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
4046 @subsection Topic Sorting
4047 @cindex topic sorting
4049 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
4055 @kindex T S a (Topic)
4056 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
4057 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
4058 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
4061 @kindex T S u (Topic)
4062 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
4063 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
4064 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
4067 @kindex T S l (Topic)
4068 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
4069 Sort the current topic by group level
4070 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
4073 @kindex T S v (Topic)
4074 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
4075 Sort the current topic by group score
4076 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
4079 @kindex T S r (Topic)
4080 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
4081 Sort the current topic by group rank
4082 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
4085 @kindex T S m (Topic)
4086 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
4087 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
4088 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
4091 @kindex T S e (Topic)
4092 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
4093 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
4094 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
4097 @kindex T S s (Topic)
4098 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
4099 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
4100 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
4101 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
4105 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
4106 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
4110 @node Topic Topology
4111 @subsection Topic Topology
4112 @cindex topic topology
4115 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
4122 2: alt.religion.emacs
4125 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
4127 8: comp.binaries.fractals
4128 13: comp.sources.unix
4132 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
4133 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
4134 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
4139 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
4140 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
4144 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
4145 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
4146 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
4147 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
4148 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
4149 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
4151 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
4152 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
4153 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
4156 @node Topic Parameters
4157 @subsection Topic Parameters
4158 @cindex topic parameters
4160 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent
4161 (and ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid
4162 topic parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}). When the agent is
4163 enabled, all agent parameters (See Agent Parameters in @ref{Category
4164 Syntax}) are also valid topic parameters.
4166 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
4171 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
4172 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
4173 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
4176 @item subscribe-level
4177 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
4178 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
4179 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
4183 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
4184 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
4185 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
4186 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
4193 2: alt.religion.emacs
4197 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
4199 8: comp.binaries.fractals
4200 13: comp.sources.unix
4205 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
4206 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
4207 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
4208 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
4209 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
4210 . "religion.SCORE")}.
4212 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
4213 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
4214 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
4215 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
4216 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
4218 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
4219 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
4220 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
4221 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
4222 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
4223 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
4224 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
4225 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
4228 @node Non-ASCII Group Names
4229 @section Accessing groups of non-English names
4230 @cindex non-ascii group names
4232 There are some news servers that provide groups of which the names are
4233 expressed with their native languages in the world. For instance, in a
4234 certain news server there are some newsgroups of which the names are
4235 spelled in Chinese, where people are talking in Chinese. You can, of
4236 course, subscribe to such news groups using Gnus. Currently Gnus
4237 supports non-@acronym{ASCII} group names not only with the @code{nntp}
4238 back end but also with the @code{nnml} back end and the @code{nnrss}
4241 Every such group name is encoded by a certain charset in the server
4242 side (in an @acronym{NNTP} server its administrator determines the
4243 charset, but for groups in the other back ends it is determined by you).
4244 Gnus has to display the decoded ones for you in the group buffer and the
4245 article buffer, and needs to use the encoded ones when communicating
4246 with servers. However, Gnus doesn't know what charset is used for each
4247 non-@acronym{ASCII} group name. The following two variables are just
4248 the ones for telling Gnus what charset should be used for each group:
4251 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4252 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4253 An alist of select methods and charsets. The default value is
4254 @code{nil}. The names of groups in the server specified by that select
4255 method are all supposed to use the corresponding charset. For example:
4258 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4259 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4262 Charsets specified for groups with this variable are preferred to the
4263 ones specified for the same groups with the
4264 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} variable (see below).
4266 A select method can be very long, like:
4270 (nntp-address "news.gmane.org")
4271 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
4272 (nntp-open-connection-function
4273 nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
4274 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
4275 (nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
4276 ("-C" "-t" "-e" "none"))
4277 (nntp-via-address @dots{}))
4280 In that case, you can truncate it into @code{(nntp "gmane")} in this
4281 variable. That is, it is enough to contain only the back end name and
4284 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4285 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4286 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4287 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names.
4288 @code{((".*" . utf-8))} is the default value if UTF-8 is supported,
4289 otherwise the default is @code{nil}. For example:
4292 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4293 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)
4297 Note that this variable is ignored if the match is made with
4298 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist}.
4301 Those two variables are used also to determine the charset for encoding
4302 and decoding non-@acronym{ASCII} group names that are in the back ends
4303 other than @code{nntp}. It means that it is you who determine it. If
4304 you do nothing, the charset used for group names in those back ends will
4305 all be @code{utf-8} because of the last element of
4306 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist}.
4308 There is one more important variable for non-@acronym{ASCII} group
4309 names. @emph{XEmacs users must set this}. Emacs users necessarily need
4313 @item nnmail-pathname-coding-system
4314 The value of this variable should be a coding system or @code{nil}
4315 (which is the default). The @code{nnml} back end, the @code{nnrss} back
4316 end, the @acronym{NNTP} marks feature (@pxref{NNTP marks}), the agent,
4317 and the cache use non-@acronym{ASCII} group names in those files and
4318 directories. This variable overrides the value of
4319 @code{file-name-coding-system} which specifies the coding system used
4320 when encoding and decoding those file names and directory names.
4322 In XEmacs (with the @code{mule} feature), @code{file-name-coding-system}
4323 is the only means to specify the coding system used to encode and decode
4324 file names. Therefore, @emph{you, XEmacs users, have to set it} to the
4325 coding system that is suitable to encode and decode non-@acronym{ASCII}
4326 group names. On the other hand, Emacs uses the value of
4327 @code{default-file-name-coding-system} if @code{file-name-coding-system}
4328 is @code{nil}. Normally the value of
4329 @code{default-file-name-coding-system} is initialized according to the
4330 locale, so you will need to do nothing if the value is suitable to
4331 encode and decode non-@acronym{ASCII} group names.
4333 The value of this variable (or @code{default-file-name-coding-system})
4334 does not necessarily need to be the same value that is determined by
4335 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} and
4336 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist}.
4338 If you want to subscribe to the groups spelled in Chinese but
4339 @code{default-file-name-coding-system} is initialized by default to
4340 @code{iso-latin-1} for example, that is the most typical case where you
4341 have to set @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system} even if you are an
4342 Emacs user. The @code{utf-8} coding system is a good candidate for it.
4343 Otherwise, you may change the locale in your system so that
4344 @code{default-file-name-coding-system} may be initialized to an
4345 appropriate value, instead of specifying this variable.
4348 Note that when you copy or move articles from a non-@acronym{ASCII}
4349 group to another group, the charset used to encode and decode group
4350 names should be the same in both groups. Otherwise the Newsgroups
4351 header will be displayed incorrectly in the article buffer.
4358 * nnir:: Searching on IMAP, with swish, namazu, etc.
4359 * nnmairix:: Searching maildir, MH or mbox with Mairix.
4364 FIXME: This node is a stub.
4366 FIXME: Add a brief overview of Gnus search capabilities. A brief
4367 comparison of nnir, nnmairix, contrib/gnus-namazu would be nice
4370 FIXME: Explain difference to @ref{Searching for Articles}, add reference
4376 FIXME: As a first step, convert the commentary of @file{nnir} to texi.
4380 @subsection nnmairix
4384 This paragraph describes how to set up mairix and the back end
4385 @code{nnmairix} for indexing and searching your mail from within
4386 Gnus. Additionally, you can create permanent ``smart'' groups which are
4387 bound to mairix searches and are automatically updated.
4390 * About mairix:: About the mairix mail search engine
4391 * nnmairix requirements:: What you will need for using nnmairix
4392 * What nnmairix does:: What does nnmairix actually do?
4393 * Setting up mairix:: Set up your mairix installation
4394 * Configuring nnmairix:: Set up the nnmairix back end
4395 * nnmairix keyboard shortcuts:: List of available keyboard shortcuts
4396 * Propagating marks:: How to propagate marks from nnmairix groups
4397 * nnmairix tips and tricks:: Some tips, tricks and examples
4398 * nnmairix caveats:: Some more stuff you might want to know
4401 @c FIXME: The markup in this section might need improvement.
4402 @c E.g. adding @samp, @var, @file, @command, etc.
4403 @c Cf. (info "(texinfo)Indicating")
4406 @subsubsection About mairix
4408 Mairix is a tool for indexing and searching words in locally stored
4409 mail. It was written by Richard Curnow and is licensed under the
4410 GPL. Mairix comes with most popular GNU/Linux distributions, but it also
4411 runs under Windows (with cygwin), Mac OS X and Solaris. The homepage can
4413 @uref{http://www.rpcurnow.force9.co.uk/mairix/index.html}
4415 Though mairix might not be as flexible as other search tools like
4416 swish++ or namazu, which you can use via the @code{nnir} back end, it
4417 has the prime advantage of being incredibly fast. On current systems, it
4418 can easily search through headers and message bodies of thousands and
4419 thousands of mails in well under a second. Building the database
4420 necessary for searching might take a minute or two, but only has to be
4421 done once fully. Afterwards, the updates are done incrementally and
4422 therefore are really fast, too. Additionally, mairix is very easy to set
4425 For maximum speed though, mairix should be used with mails stored in
4426 @code{Maildir} or @code{MH} format (this includes the @code{nnml} back
4427 end), although it also works with mbox. Mairix presents the search
4428 results by populating a @emph{virtual} maildir/MH folder with symlinks
4429 which point to the ``real'' message files (if mbox is used, copies are
4430 made). Since mairix already presents search results in such a virtual
4431 mail folder, it is very well suited for using it as an external program
4432 for creating @emph{smart} mail folders, which represent certain mail
4433 searches. This is similar to a Kiboze group (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}),
4436 @node nnmairix requirements
4437 @subsubsection nnmairix requirements
4439 Mairix searches local mail---that means, mairix absolutely must have
4440 direct access to your mail folders. If your mail resides on another
4441 server (e.g. an @acronym{IMAP} server) and you happen to have shell
4442 access, @code{nnmairix} supports running mairix remotely, e.g. via ssh.
4444 Additionally, @code{nnmairix} only supports the following Gnus back
4445 ends: @code{nnml}, @code{nnmaildir}, and @code{nnimap}. You must use
4446 one of these back ends for using @code{nnmairix}. Other back ends, like
4447 @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnfolder} or @code{nnmh}, won't work.
4449 If you absolutely must use mbox and still want to use @code{nnmairix},
4450 you can set up a local @acronym{IMAP} server, which you then access via
4451 @code{nnimap}. This is a rather massive setup for accessing some mbox
4452 files, so just change to MH or Maildir already...
4454 @node What nnmairix does
4455 @subsubsection What nnmairix does
4457 The back end @code{nnmairix} enables you to call mairix from within Gnus,
4458 either to query mairix with a search term or to update the
4459 database. While visiting a message in the summary buffer, you can use
4460 several pre-defined shortcuts for calling mairix, e.g. to quickly
4461 search for all mails from the sender of the current message or to
4462 display the whole thread associated with the message, even if the
4463 mails are in different folders.
4465 Additionally, you can create permanent @code{nnmairix} groups which are bound
4466 to certain mairix searches. This way, you can easily create a group
4467 containing mails from a certain sender, with a certain subject line or
4468 even for one specific thread based on the Message-ID. If you check for
4469 new mail in these folders (e.g. by pressing @kbd{g} or @kbd{M-g}), they
4470 automatically update themselves by calling mairix.
4472 You might ask why you need @code{nnmairix} at all, since mairix already
4473 creates the group, populates it with links to the mails so that you can
4474 then access it with Gnus, right? Well, this @emph{might} work, but often
4475 does not---at least not without problems. Most probably you will get
4476 strange article counts, and sometimes you might see mails which Gnus
4477 claims have already been canceled and are inaccessible. This is due to
4478 the fact that Gnus isn't really amused when things are happening behind
4479 its back. Another problem can be the mail back end itself, e.g. if you
4480 use mairix with an @acronym{IMAP} server (I had Dovecot complaining
4481 about corrupt index files when mairix changed the contents of the search
4482 group). Using @code{nnmairix} should circumvent these problems.
4484 @code{nnmairix} is not really a mail back end---it's actually more like a
4485 wrapper, sitting between a ``real'' mail back end where mairix stores the
4486 searches and the Gnus front end. You can choose between three different
4487 mail back ends for the mairix folders: @code{nnml}, @code{nnmaildir} or
4488 @code{nnimap}. @code{nnmairix} will call the mairix binary so that the
4489 search results are stored in folders named
4490 @code{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>} on this mail back end, but it will
4491 present these folders in the Gnus front end only with @code{<NAME>}. You
4492 can use an existing mail back end where you already store your mail, but
4493 if you're uncomfortable with @code{nnmairix} creating new mail groups
4494 alongside your other mail, you can also create e.g. a new
4495 @code{nnmaildir} server exclusively for mairix. However, a special case
4496 exists if you want to use mairix remotely on an IMAP server with
4497 @code{nnimap}---here the mairix folders and your other mail must be on
4498 the same @code{nnimap} back end.
4500 @node Setting up mairix
4501 @subsubsection Setting up mairix
4503 First: create a backup of your mail folders (@pxref{nnmairix caveats}).
4505 Setting up mairix is easy: simply create a @file{.mairixrc} file with
4506 (at least) the following entries:
4509 # Your Maildir/MH base folder
4513 This is the base folder for your mails. All the following directories
4514 are relative to this base folder. If you want to use @code{nnmairix}
4515 with @code{nnimap}, this base directory has to point to the mail
4516 directory where the @acronym{IMAP} server stores the mail folders!
4519 maildir= ... your maildir folders which should be indexed ...
4520 mh= ... your nnml/mh folders which should be indexed ...
4521 mbox = ... your mbox files which should be indexed ...
4524 Specify all your maildir/nnml folders and mbox files (relative to the
4525 base directory!) you want to index with mairix. See the man-page for
4526 mairixrc for details.
4532 @vindex nnmairix-group-prefix
4533 This should make sure that you don't accidentally index the mairix
4534 search results. You can change the prefix of these folders with the
4535 variable @code{nnmairix-group-prefix}.
4538 mformat= ... 'maildir' or 'mh' ...
4539 database= ... location of database file ...
4542 The @code{format} setting specifies the output format for the mairix
4543 search folder. Set this to @code{mh} if you want to access search results
4544 with @code{nnml}. Otherwise choose @code{maildir}.
4546 To summarize, here is my shortened @file{.mairixrc} file as an example:
4550 maildir=.personal:.work:.logcheck:.sent
4551 mh=../Mail/nnml/*...
4552 mbox=../mboxmail/mailarchive_year*
4555 database=~/.mairixdatabase
4558 In this case, the base directory is @file{~/Maildir}, where all my Maildir
4559 folders are stored. As you can see, the folders are separated by
4560 colons. If you wonder why every folder begins with a dot: this is
4561 because I use Dovecot as @acronym{IMAP} server, which again uses
4562 @code{Maildir++} folders. For testing nnmairix, I also have some
4563 @code{nnml} mail, which is saved in @file{~/Mail/nnml}. Since this has
4564 to be specified relative to the @code{base} directory, the @code{../Mail}
4565 notation is needed. Note that the line ends in @code{*...}, which means
4566 to recursively scan all files under this directory. Without the three
4567 dots, the wildcard @code{*} will not work recursively. I also have some
4568 old mbox files with archived mail lying around in @file{~/mboxmail}.
4569 The other lines should be obvious.
4571 See the man page for @code{mairixrc} for details and further options,
4572 especially regarding wildcard usage, which may be a little different
4573 than you are used to.
4575 Now simply call @code{mairix} to create the index for the first time.
4576 Note that this may take a few minutes, but every following index will do
4577 the updates incrementally and hence is very fast.
4579 @node Configuring nnmairix
4580 @subsubsection Configuring nnmairix
4582 In group mode, type @kbd{G b c}
4583 (@code{nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group}). This will ask you for all
4584 necessary information and create a @code{nnmairix} server as a foreign
4585 server. You will have to specify the following:
4590 The @strong{name} of the @code{nnmairix} server---choose whatever you
4594 The @strong{mail back end} where mairix should stores its
4595 searches. Currently @code{nnmaildir}, @code{nnimap} and @code{nnml} are
4596 supported. As explained above, for locally stored mails, this can be an
4597 existing mail back end where you store your mails. However, you can also
4598 create e.g. a new @code{nnmaildir} server exclusively for
4599 @code{nnmairix} in your secondary select methods (@pxref{Finding the
4600 News}). If you want to use mairix remotely on an @acronym{IMAP} server,
4601 you have to choose the corresponding @code{nnimap} back end here.
4604 @vindex nnmairix-mairix-search-options
4605 The @strong{command} to call the mairix binary. This will usually just
4606 be @code{mairix}, but you can also choose something like @code{ssh
4607 SERVER mairix} if you want to call mairix remotely, e.g. on your
4608 @acronym{IMAP} server. If you want to add some default options to
4609 mairix, you could do this here, but better use the variable
4610 @code{nnmairix-mairix-search-options} instead.
4613 The name of the @strong{default search group}. This will be the group
4614 where all temporary mairix searches are stored, i.e. all searches which
4615 are not bound to permanent @code{nnmairix} groups. Choose whatever you
4619 If the mail back end is @code{nnimap} or @code{nnmaildir}, you will be
4620 asked if you work with @strong{Maildir++}, i.e. with hidden maildir
4621 folders (=beginning with a dot). For example, you have to answer
4622 @samp{yes} here if you work with the Dovecot @acronym{IMAP}
4623 server. Otherwise, you should answer @samp{no} here.
4627 @node nnmairix keyboard shortcuts
4628 @subsubsection nnmairix keyboard shortcuts
4635 @kindex G b c (Group)
4636 @findex nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group
4637 Creates @code{nnmairix} server and default search group for this server
4638 (@code{nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group}). You should have done
4639 this by now (@pxref{Configuring nnmairix}).
4642 @kindex G b s (Group)
4643 @findex nnmairix-search
4644 Prompts for query which is then sent to the mairix binary. Search
4645 results are put into the default search group which is automatically
4646 displayed (@code{nnmairix-search}).
4649 @kindex G b m (Group)
4650 @findex nnmairix-widget-search
4651 Allows you to create a mairix search or a permanent group more
4652 comfortably using graphical widgets, similar to a customization
4653 group. Just try it to see how it works (@code{nnmairix-widget-search}).
4656 @kindex G b i (Group)
4657 @findex nnmairix-search-interactive
4658 Another command for creating a mairix query more comfortably, but uses
4659 only the minibuffer (@code{nnmairix-search-interactive}).
4662 @kindex G b g (Group)
4663 @findex nnmairix-create-search-group
4664 Creates a permanent group which is associated with a search query
4665 (@code{nnmairix-create-search-group}). The @code{nnmairix} back end
4666 automatically calls mairix when you update this group with @kbd{g} or
4670 @kindex G b q (Group)
4671 @findex nnmairix-group-change-query-this-group
4672 Changes the search query for the @code{nnmairix} group under cursor
4673 (@code{nnmairix-group-change-query-this-group}).
4676 @kindex G b t (Group)
4677 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-threads-this-group
4678 Toggles the 'threads' parameter for the @code{nnmairix} group under cursor,
4679 i.e. if you want see the whole threads of the found messages
4680 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-threads-this-group}).
4683 @kindex G b u (Group)
4684 @findex nnmairix-update-database
4685 @vindex nnmairix-mairix-update-options
4686 Calls mairix binary for updating the database
4687 (@code{nnmairix-update-database}). The default parameters are @code{-F}
4688 and @code{-Q} for making this as fast as possible (see variable
4689 @code{nnmairix-mairix-update-options} for defining these default
4693 @kindex G b r (Group)
4694 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-readmarks-this-group
4695 Keep articles in this @code{nnmairix} group always read or unread, or leave the
4696 marks unchanged (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-readmarks-this-group}).
4699 @kindex G b d (Group)
4700 @findex nnmairix-group-delete-recreate-this-group
4701 Recreate @code{nnmairix} group on the ``real'' mail back end
4702 (@code{nnmairix-group-delete-recreate-this-group}). You can do this if
4703 you always get wrong article counts with a @code{nnmairix} group.
4706 @kindex G b a (Group)
4707 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-allowfast-this-group
4708 Toggles the @code{allow-fast} parameters for group under cursor
4709 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-allowfast-this-group}). The default
4710 behavior of @code{nnmairix} is to do a mairix search every time you
4711 update or enter the group. With the @code{allow-fast} parameter set,
4712 mairix will only be called when you explicitly update the group, but not
4713 upon entering. This makes entering the group faster, but it may also
4714 lead to dangling symlinks if something changed between updating and
4715 entering the group which is not yet in the mairix database.
4718 @kindex G b p (Group)
4719 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group
4720 Toggle marks propagation for this group
4721 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group}). (@pxref{Propagating
4725 @kindex G b o (Group)
4726 @findex nnmairix-propagate-marks
4727 Manually propagate marks (@code{nnmairix-propagate-marks}); needed only when
4728 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close} is set to @code{nil}.
4737 @kindex $ m (Summary)
4738 @findex nnmairix-widget-search-from-this-article
4739 Allows you to create a mairix query or group based on the current
4740 message using graphical widgets (same as @code{nnmairix-widget-search})
4741 (@code{nnmairix-widget-search-from-this-article}).
4744 @kindex $ g (Summary)
4745 @findex nnmairix-create-search-group-from-message
4746 Interactively creates a new search group with query based on the current
4747 message, but uses the minibuffer instead of graphical widgets
4748 (@code{nnmairix-create-search-group-from-message}).
4751 @kindex $ t (Summary)
4752 @findex nnmairix-search-thread-this-article
4753 Searches thread for the current article
4754 (@code{nnmairix-search-thread-this-article}). This is effectively a
4755 shortcut for calling @code{nnmairix-search} with @samp{m:msgid} of the
4756 current article and enabled threads.
4759 @kindex $ f (Summary)
4760 @findex nnmairix-search-from-this-article
4761 Searches all messages from sender of the current article
4762 (@code{nnmairix-search-from-this-article}). This is a shortcut for
4763 calling @code{nnmairix-search} with @samp{f:From}.
4766 @kindex $ o (Summary)
4767 @findex nnmairix-goto-original-article
4768 (Only in @code{nnmairix} groups!) Tries determine the group this article
4769 originally came from and displays the article in this group, so that
4770 e.g. replying to this article the correct posting styles/group
4771 parameters are applied (@code{nnmairix-goto-original-article}). This
4772 function will use the registry if available, but can also parse the
4773 article file name as a fallback method.
4776 @kindex $ u (Summary)
4777 @findex nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article
4778 Remove possibly existing tick mark from original article
4779 (@code{nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article}). (@pxref{nnmairix
4784 @node Propagating marks
4785 @subsubsection Propagating marks
4787 First of: you really need a patched mairix binary for using the marks
4788 propagation feature efficiently. Otherwise, you would have to update
4789 the mairix database all the time. You can get the patch at
4791 @uref{http://m61s02.vlinux.de/mairix-maildir-patch.tar}
4793 You need the mairix v0.21 source code for this patch; everything else
4794 is explained in the accompanied readme file. If you don't want to use
4795 marks propagation, you don't have to apply these patches, but they also
4796 fix some annoyances regarding changing maildir flags, so it might still
4799 With the patched mairix binary, you can use @code{nnmairix} as an
4800 alternative to mail splitting (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}). For
4801 example, instead of splitting all mails from @samp{david@@foobar.com}
4802 into a group, you can simply create a search group with the query
4803 @samp{f:david@@foobar.com}. This is actually what ``smart folders'' are
4804 all about: simply put everything in one mail folder and dynamically
4805 create searches instead of splitting. This is more flexible, since you
4806 can dynamically change your folders any time you want to. This also
4807 implies that you will usually read your mails in the @code{nnmairix}
4808 groups instead of your ``real'' mail groups.
4810 There is one problem, though: say you got a new mail from
4811 @samp{david@@foobar.com}; it will now show up in two groups, the
4812 ``real'' group (your INBOX, for example) and in the @code{nnmairix}
4813 search group (provided you have updated the mairix database). Now you
4814 enter the @code{nnmairix} group and read the mail. The mail will be
4815 marked as read, but only in the @code{nnmairix} group---in the ``real''
4816 mail group it will be still shown as unread.
4818 You could now catch up the mail group (@pxref{Group Data}), but this is
4819 tedious and error prone, since you may overlook mails you don't have
4820 created @code{nnmairix} groups for. Of course, you could first use
4821 @code{nnmairix-goto-original-article} (@pxref{nnmairix keyboard
4822 shortcuts}) and then read the mail in the original group, but that's
4823 even more cumbersome.
4825 Clearly, the easiest way would be if marks could somehow be
4826 automatically set for the original article. This is exactly what
4827 @emph{marks propagation} is about.
4829 Marks propagation is deactivated by default. You can activate it for a
4830 certain @code{nnmairix} group with
4831 @code{nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group} (bound to @kbd{G b
4832 p}). This function will warn you if you try to use it with your default
4833 search group; the reason is that the default search group is used for
4834 temporary searches, and it's easy to accidentally propagate marks from
4835 this group. However, you can ignore this warning if you really want to.
4837 With marks propagation enabled, all the marks you set in a @code{nnmairix}
4838 group should now be propagated to the original article. For example,
4839 you can now tick an article (by default with @kbd{!}) and this mark should
4840 magically be set for the original article, too.
4842 A few more remarks which you may or may not want to know:
4844 @vindex nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close
4845 Marks will not be set immediately, but only upon closing a group. This
4846 not only makes marks propagation faster, it also avoids problems with
4847 dangling symlinks when dealing with maildir files (since changing flags
4848 will change the file name). You can also control when to propagate marks
4849 via @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close} (see the doc-string for
4852 Obviously, @code{nnmairix} will have to look up the original group for every
4853 article you want to set marks for. If available, @code{nnmairix} will first use
4854 the registry for determining the original group. The registry is very
4855 fast, hence you should really, really enable the registry when using
4856 marks propagation. If you don't have to worry about RAM and disc space,
4857 set @code{gnus-registry-max-entries} to a large enough value; to be on
4858 the safe side, choose roughly the amount of mails you index with mairix.
4860 @vindex nnmairix-only-use-registry
4861 If you don't want to use the registry or the registry hasn't seen the
4862 original article yet, @code{nnmairix} will use an additional mairix
4863 search for determining the file name of the article. This, of course, is
4864 way slower than the registry---if you set hundreds or even thousands of
4865 marks this way, it might take some time. You can avoid this situation by
4866 setting @code{nnmairix-only-use-registry} to t.
4868 Maybe you also want to propagate marks the other way round, i.e. if you
4869 tick an article in a "real" mail group, you'd like to have the same
4870 article in a @code{nnmairix} group ticked, too. For several good
4871 reasons, this can only be done efficiently if you use maildir. To
4872 immediately contradict myself, let me mention that it WON'T work with
4873 @code{nnmaildir}, since @code{nnmaildir} stores the marks externally and
4874 not in the file name. Therefore, propagating marks to @code{nnmairix}
4875 groups will usually only work if you use an IMAP server which uses
4876 maildir as its file format.
4878 @vindex nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups
4879 If you work with this setup, just set
4880 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups} to @code{t} and see what
4881 happens. If you don't like what you see, just set it to @code{nil} again. One
4882 problem might be that you get a wrong number of unread articles; this
4883 usually happens when you delete or expire articles in the original
4884 groups. When this happens, you can recreate the @code{nnmairix} group on the
4885 back end using @kbd{G b d}.
4887 @node nnmairix tips and tricks
4888 @subsubsection nnmairix tips and tricks
4894 @findex nnmairix-update-groups
4895 I put all my important mail groups at group level 1. The mairix groups
4896 have group level 5, so they do not get checked at start up (@pxref{Group
4899 I use the following to check for mails:
4902 (defun my-check-mail-mairix-update (level)
4904 ;; if no prefix given, set level=1
4905 (gnus-group-get-new-news (or level 1))
4906 (nnmairix-update-groups "mairixsearch" t t)
4907 (gnus-group-list-groups))
4909 (define-key gnus-group-mode-map "g" 'my-check-mail-mairix-update)
4912 Instead of @samp{"mairixsearch"} use the name of your @code{nnmairix}
4913 server. See the doc string for @code{nnmairix-update-groups} for
4917 Example: search group for ticked articles
4919 For example, you can create a group for all ticked articles, where the
4920 articles always stay unread:
4922 Hit @kbd{G b g}, enter group name (e.g. @samp{important}), use
4923 @samp{F:f} as query and do not include threads.
4925 Now activate marks propagation for this group by using @kbd{G b p}. Then
4926 activate the always-unread feature by using @kbd{G b r} twice.
4928 So far so good---but how do you remove the tick marks in the @code{nnmairix}
4929 group? There are two options: You may simply use
4930 @code{nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article} (bound to @kbd{$ u}) to remove
4931 tick marks from the original article. The other possibility is to set
4932 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups} to @code{t}, but see the above
4933 comments about this option. If it works for you, the tick marks should
4934 also exist in the @code{nnmairix} group and you can remove them as usual,
4935 e.g. by marking an article as read.
4937 When you have removed a tick mark from the original article, this
4938 article should vanish from the @code{nnmairix} group after you have updated the
4939 mairix database and updated the group. Fortunately, there is a function
4940 for doing exactly that: @code{nnmairix-update-groups}. See the previous code
4941 snippet and the doc string for details.
4944 Dealing with auto-subscription of mail groups
4946 As described before, all @code{nnmairix} groups are in fact stored on
4947 the mail back end in the form @samp{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>}. You can
4948 see them when you enter the back end server in the server buffer. You
4949 should not subscribe these groups! Unfortunately, these groups will
4950 usually get @emph{auto-subscribed} when you use @code{nnmaildir} or
4951 @code{nnml}, i.e. you will suddenly see groups of the form
4952 @samp{zz_mairix*} pop up in your group buffer. If this happens to you,
4953 simply kill these groups with C-k. For avoiding this, turn off
4954 auto-subscription completely by setting the variable
4955 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups} to @code{nil} (@pxref{Filtering New
4956 Groups}), or if you like to keep this feature use the following kludge
4957 for turning it off for all groups beginning with @samp{zz_}:
4960 (setq gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
4961 "^\\(nnml\\|nnfolder\\|nnmbox\\|nnmh\\|nnbabyl\\|nnmaildir\\).*:\\([^z]\\|z$\\|\\z[^z]\\|zz$\\|zz[^_]\\|zz_$\\).*")
4966 @node nnmairix caveats
4967 @subsubsection nnmairix caveats
4971 If you use the Gnus agent (@pxref{Gnus Unplugged}): don't agentize
4972 @code{nnmairix} groups (though I have no idea what happens if you do).
4975 If you use the Gnus registry: don't use the registry with
4976 @code{nnmairix} groups (put them in
4977 @code{gnus-registry-unfollowed-groups}). Be @emph{extra careful} if
4978 you use @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent}; mails which are
4979 split into @code{nnmairix} groups are usually gone for good as soon as
4980 you check the group for new mail (yes, it has happened to me...).
4983 Therefore: @emph{Never ever} put ``real'' mails into @code{nnmairix}
4984 groups (you shouldn't be able to, anyway).
4987 mairix does only support us-ascii characters.
4990 @code{nnmairix} uses a rather brute force method to force Gnus to
4991 completely reread the group on the mail back end after mairix was
4992 called---it simply deletes and re-creates the group on the mail
4993 back end. So far, this has worked for me without any problems, and I
4994 don't see how @code{nnmairix} could delete other mail groups than its
4995 own, but anyway: you really should have a backup of your mail
4999 All necessary information is stored in the group parameters
5000 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). This has the advantage that no active file
5001 is needed, but also implies that when you kill a @code{nnmairix} group,
5002 it is gone for good.
5005 @findex nnmairix-purge-old-groups
5006 If you create and kill a lot of @code{nnmairix} groups, the
5007 ``zz_mairix-*'' groups will accumulate on the mail back end server. To
5008 delete old groups which are no longer needed, call
5009 @code{nnmairix-purge-old-groups}. Note that this assumes that you don't
5010 save any ``real'' mail in folders of the form
5011 @code{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>}. You can change the prefix of
5012 @code{nnmairix} groups by changing the variable
5013 @code{nnmairix-group-prefix}.
5016 The following only applies if you @emph{don't} use the mentioned patch
5017 for mairix (@pxref{Propagating marks}):
5019 A problem can occur when using @code{nnmairix} with maildir folders and
5020 comes with the fact that maildir stores mail flags like @samp{Seen} or
5021 @samp{Replied} by appending chars @samp{S} and @samp{R} to the message
5022 file name, respectively. This implies that currently you would have to
5023 update the mairix database not only when new mail arrives, but also when
5024 mail flags are changing. The same applies to new mails which are indexed
5025 while they are still in the @samp{new} folder but then get moved to
5026 @samp{cur} when Gnus has seen the mail. If you don't update the database
5027 after this has happened, a mairix query can lead to symlinks pointing to
5028 non-existing files. In Gnus, these messages will usually appear with
5029 ``(none)'' entries in the header and can't be accessed. If this happens
5030 to you, using @kbd{G b u} and updating the group will usually fix this.
5034 @node Misc Group Stuff
5035 @section Misc Group Stuff
5038 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
5039 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
5040 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
5041 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
5042 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
5049 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Group)
5050 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
5051 command or better use it as a prefix key. For example:
5054 (define-key gnus-group-mode-map (kbd "v j d")
5057 (gnus-group-jump-to-group "nndraft:drafts")))
5060 On keys reserved for users in Emacs and on keybindings in general
5061 @xref{Keymaps, Keymaps, , emacs, The Emacs Editor}.
5065 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
5066 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
5067 @xref{Server Buffer}.
5071 @findex gnus-group-post-news
5072 Start composing a message (a news by default)
5073 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
5074 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5075 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
5076 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
5077 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
5081 @findex gnus-group-mail
5082 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
5083 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
5084 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5085 @xref{Composing Messages}.
5089 @findex gnus-group-news
5090 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
5091 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
5092 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
5094 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5095 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
5096 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5097 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5098 for this to work though.
5102 @findex gnus-group-compact-group
5104 Compact the group under point (@code{gnus-group-compact-group}).
5105 Currently implemented only in nnml (@pxref{Mail Spool}). This removes
5106 gaps between article numbers, hence getting a correct total article
5111 Variables for the group buffer:
5115 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
5116 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
5117 is called after the group buffer has been
5120 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
5121 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
5122 is called after the group buffer is
5123 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
5126 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
5127 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
5128 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
5129 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
5131 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
5132 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
5133 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
5134 whether they are empty or not.
5138 @node Scanning New Messages
5139 @subsection Scanning New Messages
5140 @cindex new messages
5141 @cindex scanning new news
5147 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
5148 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
5149 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
5150 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
5151 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
5152 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
5157 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
5158 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
5159 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
5160 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
5161 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
5162 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
5163 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
5165 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
5166 @cindex activating groups
5168 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
5169 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
5174 @findex gnus-group-restart
5175 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
5176 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
5177 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
5181 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
5182 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
5184 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
5185 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
5189 @node Group Information
5190 @subsection Group Information
5191 @cindex group information
5192 @cindex information on groups
5199 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
5200 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
5203 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} for the current group
5204 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the @acronym{FAQ}
5205 from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on
5206 a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
5207 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
5208 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be
5209 used for fetching the file.
5211 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
5212 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
5216 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
5217 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
5219 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
5220 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
5223 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
5224 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
5225 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
5229 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
5230 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
5231 @cindex control message
5232 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
5233 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
5234 group if given a prefix argument.
5236 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-@code{nil},
5237 Gnus will open the control messages in a browser using
5238 @code{browse-url}. Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp}
5239 and displayed in an ephemeral group.
5241 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
5242 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed
5243 Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
5247 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
5249 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
5250 @cindex describing groups
5251 @cindex group description
5252 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
5253 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
5254 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
5258 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
5259 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
5260 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
5267 @findex gnus-version
5268 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
5272 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
5273 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
5276 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
5279 @findex gnus-info-find-node
5280 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
5284 @node Group Timestamp
5285 @subsection Group Timestamp
5287 @cindex group timestamps
5289 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
5290 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
5291 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
5294 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
5297 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
5299 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
5300 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
5303 (setq gnus-group-line-format
5304 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
5307 This will result in lines looking like:
5310 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
5311 0: custom 19961002T012713
5314 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
5315 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
5319 (setq gnus-group-line-format
5320 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
5323 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
5324 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
5328 (setq gnus-group-line-format
5329 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
5330 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
5331 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
5333 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
5339 @subsection File Commands
5340 @cindex file commands
5346 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
5347 @vindex gnus-init-file
5348 @cindex reading init file
5349 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
5350 @file{~/.gnus.el}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
5354 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
5355 @cindex saving .newsrc
5356 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
5357 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
5358 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
5361 @c @kindex Z (Group)
5362 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
5363 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
5368 @node Sieve Commands
5369 @subsection Sieve Commands
5370 @cindex group sieve commands
5372 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
5373 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
5374 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
5375 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
5376 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
5378 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
5379 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
5380 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
5381 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
5382 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
5383 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
5384 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
5385 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
5386 regenerate the Sieve script.
5388 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
5389 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
5390 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
5391 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
5392 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
5393 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
5394 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
5395 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
5396 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
5397 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
5400 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
5401 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
5406 @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve, Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
5412 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
5413 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
5414 @cindex generating sieve script
5415 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
5416 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
5420 @findex gnus-sieve-update
5421 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
5422 @cindex updating sieve script
5423 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
5424 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
5425 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
5430 @node Summary Buffer
5431 @chapter Summary Buffer
5432 @cindex summary buffer
5434 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
5435 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
5437 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
5438 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
5440 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
5442 You can customize the Summary Mode tool bar, see @kbd{M-x
5443 customize-apropos RET gnus-summary-tool-bar}. This feature is only
5447 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Summary)
5448 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
5449 command or better use it as a prefix key. For example:
5451 (define-key gnus-summary-mode-map (kbd "v -") "LrS") ;; lower subthread
5455 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
5456 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
5457 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
5458 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
5459 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
5460 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
5461 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
5462 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
5463 * Threading:: How threads are made.
5464 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
5465 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
5466 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
5467 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
5468 * Sticky Articles:: Article buffers that are not reused.
5469 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
5470 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
5471 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
5472 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
5473 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
5474 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
5475 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
5476 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
5477 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
5478 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
5479 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
5480 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
5481 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
5482 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
5483 or reselecting the current group.
5484 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
5485 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
5486 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
5487 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
5491 @node Summary Buffer Format
5492 @section Summary Buffer Format
5493 @cindex summary buffer format
5497 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
5498 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
5499 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
5505 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
5506 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
5507 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
5508 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
5511 @findex mail-extract-address-components
5512 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
5513 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
5514 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
5515 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
5516 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
5517 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
5518 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
5519 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
5520 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
5521 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
5524 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
5525 'mail-extract-address-components)
5528 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
5529 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
5530 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
5531 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
5534 @node Summary Buffer Lines
5535 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
5537 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
5538 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
5539 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
5540 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
5541 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
5543 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
5544 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
5545 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
5546 possible to change this. Just write a new function
5547 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
5548 @xref{Positioning Point}.
5550 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
5552 The following format specification characters and extended format
5553 specification(s) are understood:
5559 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
5560 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
5562 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
5563 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
5564 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
5566 Full @code{From} header.
5568 The name (from the @code{From} header).
5570 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
5573 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
5574 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
5575 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
5576 may be more thorough.
5578 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
5581 Number of lines in the article.
5583 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
5584 in some methods (like nnfolder).
5586 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
5587 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
5589 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
5591 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
5592 lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
5605 You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
5606 that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
5607 replacing the default @acronym{ASCII} characters with graphic
5608 line-drawing glyphs.
5610 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
5611 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
5612 Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
5613 instead. The default is @samp{> }.
5615 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
5616 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
5617 Used for the false root of a thread (@pxref{Loose Threads}). If
5618 @code{nil}, use subject instead. The default is @samp{> }.
5620 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
5621 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
5622 Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
5623 instead. The default is @samp{}.
5625 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
5626 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
5627 Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
5629 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
5630 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
5631 Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
5633 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
5634 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
5635 Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
5637 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
5638 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
5639 Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
5644 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
5645 pushes everything after it off the screen).
5647 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
5648 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
5650 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
5651 for adopted articles.
5653 One space for each thread level.
5655 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
5657 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
5660 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
5661 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
5662 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
5665 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
5667 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
5668 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
5669 default level. If the difference between
5670 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
5671 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
5679 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
5681 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
5687 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
5688 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
5690 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
5691 article has any children.
5697 Desired cursor position (instead of after first colon).
5699 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
5700 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
5702 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
5703 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
5704 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{x}}, where @var{x} is the letter
5705 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
5706 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
5707 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
5710 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
5711 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
5712 There can only be one such area.
5714 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
5715 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
5716 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
5717 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
5718 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
5719 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
5721 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
5722 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
5724 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
5727 @node To From Newsgroups
5728 @subsection To From Newsgroups
5732 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
5733 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
5734 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
5735 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
5736 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
5740 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
5741 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
5742 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
5746 (setq gnus-extra-headers
5747 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
5750 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
5751 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
5754 @findex gnus-extra-header
5755 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
5756 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
5757 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
5760 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
5764 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
5765 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
5766 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
5767 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
5768 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
5769 headers are used instead.
5771 To distinguish regular articles from those where the @code{From} field
5772 has been swapped, a string is prefixed to the @code{To} or
5773 @code{Newsgroups} header in the summary line. By default the string is
5774 @samp{-> } for @code{To} and @samp{=> } for @code{Newsgroups}, you can
5775 customize these strings with @code{gnus-summary-to-prefix} and
5776 @code{gnus-summary-newsgroup-prefix}.
5780 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
5781 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
5782 to include extra headers when generating overview (@acronym{NOV}) files.
5783 If you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after
5784 changing this variable, by entering the server buffer using @kbd{^},
5785 and then @kbd{g} on the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause
5788 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
5789 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
5790 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
5791 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
5793 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
5797 (setq gnus-extra-headers
5799 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
5800 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
5801 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
5802 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
5806 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
5809 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
5810 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
5813 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
5814 the @acronym{NOV} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
5815 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
5821 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
5822 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
5825 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
5826 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
5828 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
5829 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
5830 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
5831 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
5833 Here are the elements you can play with:
5839 Unprefixed group name.
5841 Current article number.
5843 Current article score.
5847 Number of unread articles in this group.
5849 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
5852 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
5853 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
5854 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
5855 and no unselected ones.
5857 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
5858 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
5860 Subject of the current article.
5862 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
5864 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
5866 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
5868 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
5870 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
5872 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
5876 @node Summary Highlighting
5877 @subsection Summary Highlighting
5881 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
5882 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
5883 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
5884 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
5885 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
5887 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
5888 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
5889 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
5890 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
5892 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
5893 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
5894 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
5895 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
5897 @item gnus-summary-highlight
5898 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
5899 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
5900 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
5901 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
5902 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
5905 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
5906 ((> score default) . bold))
5908 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
5909 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
5913 @node Summary Maneuvering
5914 @section Summary Maneuvering
5915 @cindex summary movement
5917 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
5918 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
5920 None of these commands select articles.
5925 @kindex M-n (Summary)
5926 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
5927 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
5928 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
5929 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
5933 @kindex M-p (Summary)
5934 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
5935 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
5936 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
5937 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
5940 @kindex G g (Summary)
5941 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
5942 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
5943 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
5946 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
5947 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
5948 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
5949 to the group buffer.
5951 Variables related to summary movement:
5955 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
5956 @item gnus-auto-select-next
5957 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
5958 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
5959 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
5960 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
5961 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
5962 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
5963 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
5964 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
5965 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
5966 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
5967 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
5968 @pxref{Group Levels}.
5970 @item gnus-auto-select-same
5971 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
5972 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
5973 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
5974 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
5975 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
5976 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
5978 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
5980 @item gnus-summary-check-current
5981 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
5982 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
5983 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
5984 Instead, they will choose the current article.
5986 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
5987 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
5988 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
5989 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
5990 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
5991 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
5992 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
5993 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
5996 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
5997 the given number of lines from the top.
6002 @node Choosing Articles
6003 @section Choosing Articles
6004 @cindex selecting articles
6007 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
6008 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
6012 @node Choosing Commands
6013 @subsection Choosing Commands
6015 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
6016 and they all select and display an article.
6018 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
6019 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
6023 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
6024 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
6025 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
6026 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
6028 If you have an article window open already and you press @kbd{SPACE}
6029 again, the article will be scrolled. This lets you conveniently
6030 @kbd{SPACE} through an entire newsgroup. @xref{Paging the Article}.
6035 @kindex G n (Summary)
6036 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
6037 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
6038 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
6043 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
6044 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
6045 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
6050 @kindex G N (Summary)
6051 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
6052 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
6057 @kindex G P (Summary)
6058 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
6059 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
6062 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
6063 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
6064 Go to the next article with the same subject
6065 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
6068 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
6069 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
6070 Go to the previous article with the same subject
6071 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
6075 @kindex G f (Summary)
6077 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
6078 Go to the first unread article
6079 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
6083 @kindex G b (Summary)
6085 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
6086 Go to the unread article with the highest score
6087 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
6088 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
6093 @kindex G l (Summary)
6094 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
6095 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
6098 @kindex G o (Summary)
6099 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
6101 @cindex article history
6102 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
6103 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
6104 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
6105 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
6106 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
6107 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
6112 @kindex G j (Summary)
6113 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
6114 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
6115 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
6120 @node Choosing Variables
6121 @subsection Choosing Variables
6123 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
6126 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
6127 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
6128 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
6129 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
6130 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
6131 the server and display it in the article buffer.
6133 @item gnus-select-article-hook
6134 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
6135 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. The default is
6136 @code{nil}. If you would like each article to be saved in the Agent as
6137 you read it, putting @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this
6140 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
6141 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
6142 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
6143 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
6144 @findex gnus-unread-mark
6145 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
6146 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
6147 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
6148 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-read-mark}. The only
6149 articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
6150 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
6151 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
6152 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
6153 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
6158 @node Paging the Article
6159 @section Scrolling the Article
6160 @cindex article scrolling
6165 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
6166 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
6167 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
6168 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
6169 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
6171 @vindex gnus-article-boring-faces
6172 @vindex gnus-article-skip-boring
6173 If @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} is non-@code{nil} and the rest of
6174 the article consists only of citations and signature, then it will be
6175 skipped; the next article will be shown instead. You can customize
6176 what is considered uninteresting with
6177 @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}. You can manually view the article's
6178 pages, no matter how boring, using @kbd{C-M-v}.
6181 @kindex DEL (Summary)
6182 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
6183 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
6186 @kindex RET (Summary)
6187 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
6188 Scroll the current article one line forward
6189 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
6192 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
6193 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
6194 Scroll the current article one line backward
6195 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
6199 @kindex A g (Summary)
6201 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
6202 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
6203 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
6204 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
6205 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
6206 the way it came from the server.
6208 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
6209 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
6210 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
6213 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
6218 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
6223 @kindex A < (Summary)
6224 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
6225 Scroll to the beginning of the article
6226 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
6231 @kindex A > (Summary)
6232 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
6233 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
6237 @kindex A s (Summary)
6239 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
6240 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
6241 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
6245 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
6246 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
6251 @node Reply Followup and Post
6252 @section Reply, Followup and Post
6255 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
6256 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
6257 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
6258 * Canceling and Superseding::
6262 @node Summary Mail Commands
6263 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
6265 @cindex composing mail
6267 Commands for composing a mail message:
6273 @kindex S r (Summary)
6275 @findex gnus-summary-reply
6276 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
6277 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
6278 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
6279 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
6284 @kindex S R (Summary)
6285 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
6286 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
6287 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
6288 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
6289 command uses the process/prefix convention.
6292 @kindex S w (Summary)
6293 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
6294 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
6295 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
6296 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
6297 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers. If @code{Mail-Followup-To} is
6298 present, that's used instead.
6301 @kindex S W (Summary)
6302 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
6303 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
6304 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
6305 the process/prefix convention.
6308 @kindex S v (Summary)
6309 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
6310 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
6311 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
6312 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
6313 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
6314 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
6317 @kindex S V (Summary)
6318 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
6319 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
6320 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
6321 command uses the process/prefix convention.
6324 @kindex S B r (Summary)
6325 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
6326 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
6327 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
6328 If you need this because a mailing list incorrectly sets a
6329 @code{Reply-To} header pointing to the list, you probably want to set
6330 the @code{broken-reply-to} group parameter instead, so things will work
6331 correctly. @xref{Group Parameters}.
6334 @kindex S B R (Summary)
6335 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
6336 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
6337 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
6338 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
6342 @kindex S o m (Summary)
6343 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
6344 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
6345 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
6346 Forward the current article to some other person
6347 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
6348 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
6349 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
6350 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
6351 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
6352 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
6353 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
6354 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
6355 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME}
6361 @kindex S m (Summary)
6362 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
6363 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
6364 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
6365 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
6366 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
6371 @kindex S i (Summary)
6372 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
6373 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
6374 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
6375 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
6377 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
6378 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
6379 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
6380 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
6381 for this to work though.
6384 @kindex S D b (Summary)
6385 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
6386 @cindex bouncing mail
6387 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
6388 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
6389 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
6390 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
6391 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
6392 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
6393 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
6394 very well fail, though.
6397 @kindex S D r (Summary)
6398 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
6399 Not to be confused with the previous command,
6400 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
6401 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
6402 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
6403 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
6404 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
6405 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
6406 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
6408 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
6409 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
6410 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
6411 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
6412 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
6414 This command understands the process/prefix convention
6415 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6418 @kindex S D e (Summary)
6419 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message-edit
6421 Like the previous command, but will allow you to edit the message as
6422 if it were a new message before resending.
6425 @kindex S O m (Summary)
6426 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
6427 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
6428 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
6429 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6432 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
6433 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
6434 @cindex crossposting
6435 @cindex excessive crossposting
6436 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
6437 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
6439 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
6440 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
6441 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
6442 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
6443 command understands the process/prefix convention
6444 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
6448 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
6449 Manual}, for more information.
6452 @node Summary Post Commands
6453 @subsection Summary Post Commands
6455 @cindex composing news
6457 Commands for posting a news article:
6463 @kindex S p (Summary)
6464 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
6465 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
6466 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
6467 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
6468 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
6473 @kindex S f (Summary)
6474 @findex gnus-summary-followup
6475 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
6476 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
6480 @kindex S F (Summary)
6482 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
6483 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
6484 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
6485 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
6486 process/prefix convention.
6489 @kindex S n (Summary)
6490 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
6491 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
6492 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
6495 @kindex S N (Summary)
6496 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
6497 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
6498 message through mail and include the original message
6499 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
6500 the process/prefix convention.
6503 @kindex S o p (Summary)
6504 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
6505 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
6506 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
6507 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
6508 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
6509 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
6510 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
6511 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
6512 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
6513 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
6514 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
6515 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section.
6518 @kindex S O p (Summary)
6519 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
6521 @cindex making digests
6522 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
6523 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-post-forward}). This command uses the
6524 process/prefix convention.
6527 @kindex S u (Summary)
6528 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
6529 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
6530 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
6531 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
6534 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
6535 Manual}, for more information.
6538 @node Summary Message Commands
6539 @subsection Summary Message Commands
6543 @kindex S y (Summary)
6544 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
6545 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
6546 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
6547 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
6548 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6553 @node Canceling and Superseding
6554 @subsection Canceling Articles
6555 @cindex canceling articles
6556 @cindex superseding articles
6558 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
6559 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
6561 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
6563 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
6565 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
6566 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
6567 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
6568 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
6569 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
6570 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6572 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
6573 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
6576 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
6577 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
6578 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
6580 Gnus ensures that only you can cancel your own messages using a
6581 @code{Cancel-Lock} header (@pxref{Canceling News, Canceling News, ,
6582 message, Message Manual}).
6584 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
6585 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
6586 your original article.
6588 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
6590 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
6591 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
6592 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
6595 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
6596 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
6597 have posted almost the same article twice.
6599 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
6600 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
6601 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
6602 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
6603 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
6604 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
6605 header by substituting one of those words for the word
6606 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
6607 you would do normally. The previous article will be
6608 canceled/superseded.
6610 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
6612 @node Delayed Articles
6613 @section Delayed Articles
6614 @cindex delayed sending
6615 @cindex send delayed
6617 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
6618 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
6619 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
6620 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
6623 (gnus-delay-initialize)
6626 @findex gnus-delay-article
6627 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
6628 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
6629 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
6630 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
6634 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
6635 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
6636 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
6637 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
6640 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
6641 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
6642 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
6645 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
6646 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
6647 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
6648 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
6649 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
6650 that means a time tomorrow.
6653 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
6654 couple of variables:
6657 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
6658 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
6659 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
6660 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
6662 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
6663 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
6664 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
6665 formats described above.
6667 @item gnus-delay-group
6668 @vindex gnus-delay-group
6669 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
6670 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
6671 value is @code{"delayed"}.
6673 @item gnus-delay-header
6674 @vindex gnus-delay-header
6675 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
6676 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
6677 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
6680 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
6681 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
6682 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
6683 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
6684 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
6686 @findex gnus-delay-send-queue
6687 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
6688 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
6689 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
6690 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
6691 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
6692 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
6695 @item gnus-delay-initialize
6696 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
6697 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
6698 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
6699 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
6700 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
6701 argument is ignored.
6703 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
6704 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
6705 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
6709 @node Marking Articles
6710 @section Marking Articles
6711 @cindex article marking
6712 @cindex article ticking
6715 There are several marks you can set on an article.
6717 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
6718 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
6719 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
6721 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
6724 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks.
6728 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
6729 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
6730 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
6731 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
6732 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
6733 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
6737 @node Unread Articles
6738 @subsection Unread Articles
6740 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
6745 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
6746 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
6748 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
6749 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
6750 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
6751 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
6752 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
6753 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
6754 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
6757 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
6758 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
6760 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
6761 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
6762 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
6763 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
6767 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
6768 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
6770 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
6775 @subsection Read Articles
6776 @cindex expirable mark
6778 All the following marks mark articles as read.
6783 @vindex gnus-del-mark
6784 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
6785 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
6788 @vindex gnus-read-mark
6789 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
6792 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
6793 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
6794 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
6797 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
6798 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
6801 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
6802 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
6805 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
6806 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
6809 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
6810 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
6813 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
6814 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
6817 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
6818 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
6821 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
6822 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
6826 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
6827 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
6828 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
6832 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
6833 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
6835 One more special mark, though:
6839 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
6840 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
6842 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
6843 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
6844 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
6845 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
6851 @subsection Other Marks
6852 @cindex process mark
6855 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
6861 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
6862 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
6863 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
6864 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
6865 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
6868 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
6869 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
6870 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
6871 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
6874 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
6875 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
6876 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
6879 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
6880 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
6881 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
6884 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
6885 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
6886 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
6887 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
6890 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
6891 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
6892 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
6893 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
6894 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
6895 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
6898 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
6899 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
6900 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
6901 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
6904 @vindex gnus-downloaded-mark
6905 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), articles may be
6906 downloaded for unplugged (offline) viewing. If you are using the
6907 @samp{%O} spec, these articles get the @samp{+} mark in that spec.
6908 (The variable @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} controls which character to
6912 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
6913 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), some articles might
6914 not have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you
6915 are unplugged (offline). If you are using the @samp{%O} spec, these
6916 articles get the @samp{-} mark in that spec. (The variable
6917 @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls which character to use.)
6920 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
6921 The Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}) downloads some articles
6922 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
6923 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
6924 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
6925 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
6929 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
6930 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
6931 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
6932 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
6933 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
6936 @vindex gnus-process-mark
6937 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
6938 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
6939 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
6940 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
6941 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
6945 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
6946 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
6947 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
6949 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
6950 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
6951 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
6955 @subsection Setting Marks
6956 @cindex setting marks
6958 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
6963 @kindex M c (Summary)
6964 @kindex M-u (Summary)
6965 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
6966 @cindex mark as unread
6967 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
6968 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
6974 @kindex M t (Summary)
6975 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
6976 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
6977 @xref{Article Caching}.
6982 @kindex M ? (Summary)
6983 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
6984 Mark the current article as dormant
6985 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
6989 @kindex M d (Summary)
6991 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
6992 Mark the current article as read
6993 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
6997 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
6998 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
6999 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
7004 @kindex M k (Summary)
7005 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
7006 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
7007 and then select the next unread article
7008 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
7012 @kindex M K (Summary)
7013 @kindex C-k (Summary)
7014 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
7015 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
7016 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
7019 @kindex M C (Summary)
7020 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
7021 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
7022 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
7025 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
7026 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
7027 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
7028 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
7031 @kindex M H (Summary)
7032 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
7033 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
7034 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
7037 @kindex M h (Summary)
7038 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
7039 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
7040 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
7043 @kindex C-w (Summary)
7044 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
7045 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
7046 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
7049 @kindex M V k (Summary)
7050 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
7051 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
7052 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
7056 @kindex M e (Summary)
7058 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
7059 Mark the current article as expirable
7060 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
7063 @kindex M b (Summary)
7064 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
7065 Set a bookmark in the current article
7066 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
7069 @kindex M B (Summary)
7070 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
7071 Remove the bookmark from the current article
7072 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
7075 @kindex M V c (Summary)
7076 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
7077 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
7078 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
7081 @kindex M V u (Summary)
7082 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
7083 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
7084 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
7087 @kindex M V m (Summary)
7088 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
7089 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
7090 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
7091 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
7094 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
7095 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
7096 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
7097 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
7098 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
7099 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
7100 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
7101 The default is @code{t}.
7104 @node Generic Marking Commands
7105 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
7107 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
7108 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
7109 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
7110 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
7111 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
7114 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
7115 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
7118 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
7119 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
7120 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
7121 to list in this manual.
7123 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
7124 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
7125 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
7126 article, you could say something like:
7130 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
7131 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
7132 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
7140 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
7141 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
7145 @node Setting Process Marks
7146 @subsection Setting Process Marks
7147 @cindex setting process marks
7149 Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
7150 used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
7151 process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
7152 articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
7153 articles into the cache. For more information,
7154 @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
7161 @kindex M P p (Summary)
7162 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
7163 Mark the current article with the process mark
7164 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
7165 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
7169 @kindex M P u (Summary)
7170 @kindex M-# (Summary)
7171 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
7172 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
7175 @kindex M P U (Summary)
7176 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
7177 Remove the process mark from all articles
7178 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
7181 @kindex M P i (Summary)
7182 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
7183 Invert the list of process marked articles
7184 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
7187 @kindex M P R (Summary)
7188 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
7189 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
7190 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
7193 @kindex M P G (Summary)
7194 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
7195 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
7196 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
7199 @kindex M P r (Summary)
7200 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
7201 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
7204 @kindex M P g (Summary)
7205 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
7206 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
7209 @kindex M P t (Summary)
7210 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
7211 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
7212 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
7215 @kindex M P T (Summary)
7216 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
7217 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
7218 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
7221 @kindex M P v (Summary)
7222 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
7223 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
7224 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
7227 @kindex M P s (Summary)
7228 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
7229 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
7232 @kindex M P S (Summary)
7233 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
7234 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
7235 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
7238 @kindex M P a (Summary)
7239 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
7240 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}).
7243 @kindex M P b (Summary)
7244 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
7245 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
7246 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
7249 @kindex M P k (Summary)
7250 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
7251 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
7252 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
7255 @kindex M P y (Summary)
7256 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
7257 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
7258 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
7261 @kindex M P w (Summary)
7262 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
7263 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
7264 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
7268 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @ref{Searching for Articles}, for how to
7269 set process marks based on article body contents.
7276 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
7277 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
7278 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
7281 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
7282 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
7283 additional articles.
7289 @kindex / / (Summary)
7290 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
7291 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
7292 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
7296 @kindex / a (Summary)
7297 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
7298 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
7299 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
7303 @kindex / R (Summary)
7304 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-recipient
7305 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some recipient
7306 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-recipient}). If given a prefix, exclude
7310 @kindex / A (Summary)
7311 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-address
7312 Limit the summary buffer to articles in which contents of From, To or Cc
7313 header match a given address (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-address}). If
7314 given a prefix, exclude matching articles.
7317 @kindex / S (Summary)
7318 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-singletons
7319 Limit the summary buffer to articles that aren't part of any displayed
7320 threads (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-singletons}). If given a prefix,
7321 limit to articles that are part of displayed threads.
7324 @kindex / x (Summary)
7325 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
7326 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
7327 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
7328 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
7333 @kindex / u (Summary)
7335 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
7336 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
7337 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
7338 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
7339 dormant articles will also be excluded.
7342 @kindex / m (Summary)
7343 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
7344 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
7345 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
7348 @kindex / t (Summary)
7349 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
7350 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
7351 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
7352 articles younger than that number of days.
7355 @kindex / n (Summary)
7356 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
7357 With prefix @samp{n}, limit the summary buffer to the next @samp{n}
7358 articles. If not given a prefix, use the process marked articles
7359 instead. (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}).
7362 @kindex / w (Summary)
7363 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
7364 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
7365 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
7369 @kindex / . (Summary)
7370 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
7371 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
7372 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
7375 @kindex / v (Summary)
7376 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
7377 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
7378 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
7381 @kindex / p (Summary)
7382 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
7383 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
7384 group parameter predicate
7385 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). @xref{Group
7386 Parameters}, for more on this predicate.
7389 @kindex / r (Summary)
7390 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-replied
7391 Limit the summary buffer to replied articles
7392 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-replied}). If given a prefix, exclude
7397 @kindex M S (Summary)
7398 @kindex / E (Summary)
7399 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
7400 Include all expunged articles in the limit
7401 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
7404 @kindex / D (Summary)
7405 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
7406 Include all dormant articles in the limit
7407 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
7410 @kindex / * (Summary)
7411 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
7412 Include all cached articles in the limit
7413 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
7416 @kindex / d (Summary)
7417 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
7418 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
7419 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
7422 @kindex / M (Summary)
7423 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
7424 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
7427 @kindex / T (Summary)
7428 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
7429 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
7432 @kindex / c (Summary)
7433 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
7434 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit@*
7435 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
7438 @kindex / C (Summary)
7439 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
7440 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
7441 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
7442 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
7445 @kindex / N (Summary)
7446 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
7447 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
7448 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
7451 @kindex / o (Summary)
7452 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
7453 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
7454 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
7457 @kindex / b (Summary)
7458 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-bodies
7459 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have bodies that match a
7460 certain regexp (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-bodies}). If given a
7461 prefix, reverse the limit. This command is quite slow since it
7462 requires selecting each article to find the matches.
7465 @kindex / h (Summary)
7466 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-headers
7467 Like the previous command, only limit to headers instead
7468 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-headers}).
7476 @cindex article threading
7478 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
7479 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
7480 hierarchical fashion.
7482 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
7483 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
7484 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
7485 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
7486 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
7487 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
7488 @ref{Customizing Threading}.
7490 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
7494 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
7497 A tree-like article structure.
7500 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
7503 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
7504 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
7505 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
7506 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
7507 called loose threads.
7509 @item thread gathering
7510 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
7512 @item sparse threads
7513 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
7514 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
7520 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
7521 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
7525 @node Customizing Threading
7526 @subsection Customizing Threading
7527 @cindex customizing threading
7530 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
7531 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
7532 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
7533 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
7538 @subsubsection Loose Threads
7541 @cindex loose threads
7544 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
7545 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
7546 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
7547 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
7548 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
7549 read or killed the root in a previous session.
7551 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
7552 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
7553 There are four possible values:
7557 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
7558 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
7559 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
7560 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
7561 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
7566 @cindex adopting articles
7571 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
7572 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
7573 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
7574 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
7577 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
7578 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
7579 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
7580 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
7581 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
7582 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
7583 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
7584 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
7585 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
7586 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
7589 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
7590 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
7591 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
7595 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
7596 display them after one another.
7599 Don't gather loose threads.
7602 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
7603 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
7604 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
7605 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
7606 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
7607 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
7608 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
7609 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
7610 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
7611 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
7612 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
7614 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
7615 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
7616 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
7619 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
7620 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
7621 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
7622 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
7623 simplification is used.
7625 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
7626 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
7627 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
7628 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
7630 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
7632 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
7638 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
7639 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
7640 "answer" "reference" "announce"
7641 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
7646 (mapconcat 'identity
7647 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
7649 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
7652 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
7655 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
7656 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
7657 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
7658 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
7659 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
7660 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
7662 Useful functions to put in this list include:
7665 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
7666 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
7667 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
7669 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
7670 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
7673 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
7674 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
7675 Remove excessive whitespace.
7677 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
7678 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
7679 Remove all whitespace.
7682 You may also write your own functions, of course.
7685 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
7686 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
7687 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
7688 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
7689 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
7690 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
7691 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
7692 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
7694 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
7695 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
7696 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
7697 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
7698 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
7699 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
7700 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
7701 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
7702 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
7706 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
7707 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
7708 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
7709 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
7711 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
7712 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
7713 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
7716 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
7720 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
7721 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
7727 @node Filling In Threads
7728 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
7731 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
7732 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
7733 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
7734 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you would
7735 like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still connect as
7736 many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable to
7737 @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than that
7738 number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case, fetching
7739 old headers only works if the back end you are using carries overview
7740 files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
7741 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
7742 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can
7745 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
7746 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
7747 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
7749 The server has to support @acronym{NOV} for any of this to work.
7751 @cindex Gmane, gnus-fetch-old-headers
7752 This feature can seriously impact performance it ignores all locally
7753 cached header entries. Setting it to @code{t} for groups for a server
7754 that doesn't expire articles (such as news.gmane.org), leads to very
7755 slow summary generation.
7757 @item gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
7758 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
7759 Same as @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}, but only used for ephemeral
7762 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
7763 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
7764 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
7765 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
7766 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
7767 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
7768 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
7769 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
7770 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
7771 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
7772 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
7773 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
7774 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
7775 @code{nil} by default.
7777 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
7778 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
7779 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
7780 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
7781 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
7782 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
7783 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
7785 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
7786 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
7787 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
7792 @node More Threading
7793 @subsubsection More Threading
7796 @item gnus-show-threads
7797 @vindex gnus-show-threads
7798 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
7799 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
7800 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
7801 slower and more awkward.
7803 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
7804 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
7805 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
7808 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
7809 Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
7810 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}.
7815 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
7816 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
7817 gnus-article-unseen-p))
7820 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
7821 unread, but you get my drift.)
7824 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
7825 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
7826 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
7827 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
7828 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
7829 threads are expunged.
7831 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
7832 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
7833 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
7836 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
7837 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
7838 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
7839 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
7840 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
7841 result in a new thread.
7843 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
7844 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
7845 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
7848 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
7849 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
7850 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
7851 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
7852 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
7853 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
7854 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
7855 Setting this variable to an alternate value
7856 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
7857 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
7858 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
7863 @node Low-Level Threading
7864 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
7868 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
7869 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
7870 Hook run before parsing any headers.
7872 @item gnus-alter-header-function
7873 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
7874 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
7875 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
7876 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
7877 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
7878 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
7879 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
7880 meaningful. Here's one example:
7883 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
7885 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
7886 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
7888 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
7890 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
7897 @node Thread Commands
7898 @subsection Thread Commands
7899 @cindex thread commands
7905 @kindex T k (Summary)
7906 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
7907 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
7908 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
7909 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
7910 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
7915 @kindex T l (Summary)
7916 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
7917 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
7918 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
7919 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
7922 @kindex T i (Summary)
7923 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
7924 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
7925 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
7928 @kindex T # (Summary)
7929 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
7930 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
7931 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
7934 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
7935 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
7936 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
7937 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
7940 @kindex T T (Summary)
7941 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
7942 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
7945 @kindex T s (Summary)
7946 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
7947 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any@*
7948 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
7951 @kindex T h (Summary)
7952 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
7953 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
7956 @kindex T S (Summary)
7957 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
7958 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
7961 @kindex T H (Summary)
7962 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
7963 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
7966 @kindex T t (Summary)
7967 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
7968 Re-thread the current article's thread
7969 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
7970 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
7973 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
7974 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
7975 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
7976 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
7979 @kindex T M-^ (Summary)
7980 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-children
7981 Make the current article the parent of the marked articles
7982 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-children}).
7986 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
7987 understand the numeric prefix.
7992 @kindex T n (Summary)
7994 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
7996 @kindex M-down (Summary)
7997 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
7998 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
8001 @kindex T p (Summary)
8003 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
8005 @kindex M-up (Summary)
8006 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
8007 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
8010 @kindex T d (Summary)
8011 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
8012 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
8015 @kindex T u (Summary)
8016 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
8017 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
8020 @kindex T o (Summary)
8021 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
8022 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
8025 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
8026 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
8027 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
8028 a command like @kbd{T k} (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
8029 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
8030 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
8031 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
8032 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
8033 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
8034 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
8035 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
8036 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
8040 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
8041 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
8043 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
8044 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
8045 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
8046 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
8047 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
8048 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-recipient
8049 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
8050 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
8051 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
8052 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number
8053 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date
8054 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
8055 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
8056 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
8057 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
8059 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
8060 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
8061 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-recipient},
8062 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
8063 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date},
8064 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
8065 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
8066 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
8067 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
8068 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
8070 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
8071 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
8072 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
8074 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
8075 last function in the list. You should probably always include
8076 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
8077 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
8078 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
8079 ascending article order.
8081 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
8082 by number, you could do something like:
8085 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
8086 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
8087 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
8088 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
8091 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
8092 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
8093 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
8094 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
8095 which the articles arrived.
8097 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
8101 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
8102 '((not gnus-thread-sort-by-number)
8103 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
8106 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
8107 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
8108 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
8109 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
8112 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
8113 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
8114 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-most-recent-date
8115 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
8116 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
8117 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
8118 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
8119 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
8120 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-most-recent-number
8121 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
8122 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
8123 variable. It is very similar to the
8124 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
8125 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
8126 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
8127 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
8128 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
8129 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
8130 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
8132 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
8136 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
8137 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
8138 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
8141 You can define group specific sorting via @code{gnus-parameters},
8142 @xref{Group Parameters}.
8145 @node Asynchronous Fetching
8146 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
8147 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
8148 @cindex article pre-fetch
8151 If you read your news from an @acronym{NNTP} server that's far away, the
8152 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
8153 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
8154 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
8155 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
8157 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
8158 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
8160 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
8161 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
8162 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
8163 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
8164 connection is blocked.
8166 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
8167 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
8168 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
8169 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
8171 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
8172 the link between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server will become more
8173 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
8174 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
8177 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing@dots{} unless
8180 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
8181 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
8182 happen automatically.
8184 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
8185 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
8186 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
8187 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
8188 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
8189 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
8190 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
8192 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
8193 @findex gnus-async-unread-p
8194 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
8195 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p}
8196 variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This
8197 function should return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is
8198 to be pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-unread-p}, which
8199 returns @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an
8200 article data structure as the only parameter.
8202 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
8203 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
8206 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
8207 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
8208 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
8209 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
8212 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
8215 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
8216 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
8217 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
8219 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
8220 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
8221 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
8222 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
8226 Remove articles when they are read.
8229 Remove articles when exiting the group.
8232 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
8234 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
8235 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
8236 @c from the next group.
8239 @node Article Caching
8240 @section Article Caching
8241 @cindex article caching
8244 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @acronym{NNTP} connection, you may
8245 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
8246 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
8247 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
8248 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
8250 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
8252 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
8253 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
8254 @vindex gnus-use-cache
8255 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
8256 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
8257 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
8258 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
8259 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
8261 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
8262 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
8263 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
8264 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
8265 as dormant, and don't worry.
8267 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
8269 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
8270 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
8271 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
8272 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
8273 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
8274 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
8275 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
8276 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
8277 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
8278 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
8280 @findex gnus-jog-cache
8281 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
8282 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
8283 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
8284 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
8285 command if 1) your connection to the @acronym{NNTP} server is really, really,
8286 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
8287 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
8288 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
8289 not then be downloaded by this command.
8291 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
8292 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
8293 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
8294 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
8295 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
8296 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
8298 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
8299 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
8300 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
8301 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
8302 variables, the group is not cached.
8304 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
8305 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
8306 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
8307 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
8308 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
8309 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
8310 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
8311 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @acronym{NOV}
8312 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
8315 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
8316 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
8317 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
8318 where, isn't that cool?
8320 @node Persistent Articles
8321 @section Persistent Articles
8322 @cindex persistent articles
8324 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
8325 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
8326 useful in my opinion.
8328 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
8329 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
8330 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
8331 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
8332 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
8333 the expiry going on at the news server.
8335 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
8336 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
8337 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
8343 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
8344 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
8347 @kindex M-* (Summary)
8348 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
8349 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
8350 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
8354 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
8356 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
8357 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
8358 interested in persistent articles:
8361 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
8364 @node Sticky Articles
8365 @section Sticky Articles
8366 @cindex sticky articles
8368 When you select an article the current article buffer will be reused
8369 according to the value of the variable
8370 @code{gnus-single-article-buffer}. If its value is non-@code{nil} (the
8371 default) all articles reuse the same article buffer. Else each group
8372 has its own article buffer.
8374 This implies that it's not possible to have more than one article buffer
8375 in a group at a time. But sometimes you might want to display all the
8376 latest emails from your mother, your father, your aunt, your uncle and
8377 your 17 cousins to coordinate the next christmas party.
8379 That's where sticky articles come in handy. A sticky article buffer
8380 basically is a normal article buffer, but it won't be reused when you
8381 select another article. You can make an article sticky with:
8385 @kindex A S (Summary)
8386 @findex gnus-sticky-article
8387 Make the current article sticky. If a prefix arg is given, ask for a
8388 name for this sticky article buffer.
8391 To close a sticky article buffer you can use these commands:
8397 Puts this sticky article buffer at the end of the list of all buffers.
8401 @findex gnus-kill-sticky-article-buffer
8402 Kills this sticky article buffer.
8405 To kill all sticky article buffers you can use:
8407 @defun gnus-kill-sticky-article-buffers ARG
8408 Kill all sticky article buffers.
8409 If a prefix ARG is given, ask for confirmation.
8412 @node Article Backlog
8413 @section Article Backlog
8415 @cindex article backlog
8417 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
8418 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
8419 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
8420 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
8421 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
8422 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
8423 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
8424 increase memory usage some.
8426 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
8427 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
8428 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
8429 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
8430 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
8431 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
8432 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
8434 The default value is 20.
8437 @node Saving Articles
8438 @section Saving Articles
8439 @cindex saving articles
8441 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
8442 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
8443 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
8444 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
8445 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
8447 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
8448 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
8449 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
8451 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
8452 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
8453 unwanted headers before saving the article.
8455 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
8456 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
8457 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
8458 deleted before saving.
8464 @kindex O o (Summary)
8466 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
8467 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
8468 Save the current article using the default article saver
8469 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
8472 @kindex O m (Summary)
8473 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
8474 Save the current article in a Unix mail box (mbox) file
8475 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
8478 @kindex O r (Summary)
8479 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
8480 Save the current article in Rmail format
8481 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
8484 @kindex O f (Summary)
8485 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
8486 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
8487 Save the current article in plain file format
8488 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
8491 @kindex O F (Summary)
8492 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
8493 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
8494 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
8497 @kindex O b (Summary)
8498 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
8499 Save the current article body in plain file format
8500 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
8503 @kindex O h (Summary)
8504 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
8505 Save the current article in mh folder format
8506 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
8509 @kindex O v (Summary)
8510 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
8511 Save the current article in a VM folder
8512 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
8516 @kindex O p (Summary)
8518 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
8519 @vindex gnus-summary-pipe-output-default-command
8520 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
8521 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
8522 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
8523 complete headers in the piped output. The symbolic prefix @code{r} is
8524 special; it lets this command pipe a raw article including all headers.
8525 The @code{gnus-summary-pipe-output-default-command} variable can be set
8526 to a string containing the default command and options (default
8530 @kindex O P (Summary)
8531 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
8532 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
8533 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
8534 external program @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/,
8535 Muttprint}. The program name and options to use is controlled by the
8536 variable @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}.
8537 (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
8541 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
8542 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
8543 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
8544 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
8545 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
8546 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
8547 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
8548 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
8549 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
8550 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
8551 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
8552 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
8556 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
8557 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
8558 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the eight ready-made
8559 functions below, or you can create your own.
8563 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
8564 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
8565 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
8566 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
8567 This is the default format, @dfn{Babyl}. Uses the function in the
8568 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8569 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
8571 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
8572 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
8573 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
8574 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
8575 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8576 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
8578 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
8579 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
8580 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
8581 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
8582 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
8583 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8584 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
8586 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
8587 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
8588 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
8589 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
8590 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8591 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
8593 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
8594 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
8595 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
8596 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8597 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
8599 @item gnus-summary-write-body-to-file
8600 @findex gnus-summary-write-body-to-file
8601 Write the article body straight to an ordinary file. The file is
8602 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
8603 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8604 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
8606 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
8607 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
8608 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
8609 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
8610 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
8613 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
8614 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
8615 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
8616 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
8617 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
8619 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
8620 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
8621 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
8622 reader to use this setting.
8624 @item gnus-summary-save-in-pipe
8625 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-pipe
8626 Pipe the article to a shell command. This function takes optional two
8627 arguments COMMAND and RAW. Valid values for COMMAND include:
8631 The executable command name and possibly arguments.
8633 You will be prompted for the command in the minibuffer.
8634 @item the symbol @code{default}@*
8635 It will be replaced with the command which the variable
8636 @code{gnus-summary-pipe-output-default-command} holds or the command
8637 last used for saving.
8640 Non-@code{nil} value for RAW overrides @code{:decode} and
8641 @code{:headers} properties (see below) and the raw article including all
8642 headers will be piped.
8645 The symbol of each function may have the following properties:
8649 The value non-@code{nil} means save decoded articles. This is
8650 meaningful only with @code{gnus-summary-save-in-file},
8651 @code{gnus-summary-save-body-in-file},
8652 @code{gnus-summary-write-to-file},
8653 @code{gnus-summary-write-body-to-file}, and
8654 @code{gnus-summary-save-in-pipe}.
8657 The value specifies an alternative function which appends, not
8658 overwrites, articles to a file. This implies that when saving many
8659 articles at a time, @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} is bound to
8660 @code{t} and all articles are saved in a single file. This is
8661 meaningful only with @code{gnus-summary-write-to-file} and
8662 @code{gnus-summary-write-body-to-file}.
8665 The value specifies the symbol of a variable of which the value
8666 specifies headers to be saved. If it is omitted,
8667 @code{gnus-save-all-headers} and @code{gnus-saved-headers} control what
8668 headers should be saved.
8671 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
8672 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
8673 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
8674 @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
8677 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
8678 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
8679 available functions that generate names:
8683 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
8684 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
8685 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
8687 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
8688 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
8689 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
8691 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
8692 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
8693 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
8695 @item gnus-plain-save-name
8696 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
8697 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
8699 @item gnus-sender-save-name
8700 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
8701 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
8704 @vindex gnus-split-methods
8705 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
8706 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
8707 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
8708 related to VM in @file{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
8712 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
8713 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
8714 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
8715 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
8718 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
8719 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
8720 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
8721 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
8722 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
8723 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
8724 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
8725 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
8726 called returns a string or a list of strings.
8728 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
8729 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
8730 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
8731 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
8733 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
8734 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
8735 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
8738 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
8739 lots of mail groups called things like
8740 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
8741 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
8742 following will do just that:
8745 (defun my-save-name (group)
8746 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
8747 (substring group (match-end 0))))
8749 (setq gnus-split-methods
8750 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
8755 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
8756 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
8757 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
8758 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
8759 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
8760 all the files in the top level directory
8761 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
8762 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
8763 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
8764 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
8766 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
8767 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
8768 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
8769 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
8770 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
8773 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
8777 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; @r{to get a hierarchy}
8778 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
8779 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; @r{no encoding}
8782 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
8783 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
8784 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
8785 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
8788 @node Decoding Articles
8789 @section Decoding Articles
8790 @cindex decoding articles
8792 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
8793 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
8796 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
8797 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
8798 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
8799 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
8800 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
8801 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
8805 @cindex article series
8806 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
8807 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
8808 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
8809 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
8810 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
8812 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
8813 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
8814 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
8816 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
8817 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
8818 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
8820 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
8821 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
8822 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
8825 @node Uuencoded Articles
8826 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
8828 @cindex uuencoded articles
8833 @kindex X u (Summary)
8834 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
8835 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
8836 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
8839 @kindex X U (Summary)
8840 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
8841 Uudecodes and saves the current series
8842 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
8845 @kindex X v u (Summary)
8846 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
8847 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
8850 @kindex X v U (Summary)
8851 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
8852 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
8853 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
8857 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
8858 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
8859 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
8860 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
8861 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
8863 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
8864 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
8865 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
8866 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
8869 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
8870 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
8871 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
8872 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
8873 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
8874 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
8878 @node Shell Archives
8879 @subsection Shell Archives
8881 @cindex shell archives
8882 @cindex shared articles
8884 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
8885 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
8886 some commands to deal with these:
8891 @kindex X s (Summary)
8892 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
8893 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
8896 @kindex X S (Summary)
8897 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
8898 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
8901 @kindex X v s (Summary)
8902 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
8903 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
8906 @kindex X v S (Summary)
8907 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
8908 Unshars, views and saves the current series
8909 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
8913 @node PostScript Files
8914 @subsection PostScript Files
8920 @kindex X p (Summary)
8921 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
8922 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
8925 @kindex X P (Summary)
8926 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
8927 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
8928 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
8931 @kindex X v p (Summary)
8932 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
8933 View the current PostScript series
8934 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
8937 @kindex X v P (Summary)
8938 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
8939 View and save the current PostScript series
8940 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
8945 @subsection Other Files
8949 @kindex X o (Summary)
8950 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
8951 Save the current series
8952 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
8955 @kindex X b (Summary)
8956 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
8957 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
8958 doesn't really work yet.
8961 @kindex X Y (Summary)
8962 @findex gnus-uu-decode-yenc
8963 yEnc-decode the current series and save it (@code{gnus-uu-decode-yenc}).
8967 @node Decoding Variables
8968 @subsection Decoding Variables
8970 Adjective, not verb.
8973 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
8974 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
8975 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
8979 @node Rule Variables
8980 @subsubsection Rule Variables
8981 @cindex rule variables
8983 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
8984 variables are of the form
8987 (list '(regexp1 command2)
8994 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
8995 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
8997 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
8998 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @file{.au} sound file, you could
9001 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
9002 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
9005 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
9006 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
9007 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
9008 user and default view rules.
9010 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
9011 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
9012 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
9017 @node Other Decode Variables
9018 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
9021 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
9023 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
9024 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
9025 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
9026 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
9027 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
9031 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
9032 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
9035 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
9036 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
9037 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
9040 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
9041 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
9042 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
9043 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
9044 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
9047 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
9048 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
9049 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
9051 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
9052 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
9053 Files with a @acronym{MIME} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
9054 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
9055 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @acronym{MIME} package (yet), so this is slightly
9058 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
9059 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
9060 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
9062 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
9063 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
9064 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
9065 looking for files to display.
9067 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
9068 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
9069 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
9072 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
9073 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
9074 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
9077 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
9078 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
9079 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
9082 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
9083 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
9084 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
9087 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
9088 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
9089 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
9090 decoded articles as unread.
9092 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
9093 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
9094 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
9095 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
9097 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
9098 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
9099 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
9101 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
9102 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
9104 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
9105 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @acronym{MIME}
9106 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
9107 @code{metamail} for viewing.
9109 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
9110 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
9111 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
9112 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
9113 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
9114 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
9115 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
9116 simply dropped them.
9121 @node Uuencoding and Posting
9122 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
9126 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
9127 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
9128 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
9129 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
9130 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
9131 for you when you post the article.
9133 @item gnus-uu-post-length
9134 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
9135 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
9136 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
9138 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
9139 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
9140 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
9141 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
9142 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
9143 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
9144 think that counts@dots{}) Default is @code{nil}.
9146 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
9147 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
9148 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
9149 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
9150 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
9151 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
9152 Default is @code{t}.
9158 @subsection Viewing Files
9159 @cindex viewing files
9160 @cindex pseudo-articles
9162 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
9163 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
9164 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
9165 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
9166 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
9167 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
9168 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
9170 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
9171 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
9172 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
9173 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
9175 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
9176 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
9177 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
9179 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
9180 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
9181 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
9182 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
9183 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
9185 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
9186 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
9187 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
9188 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
9189 a list of parameters to that command.
9191 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
9192 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
9193 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
9195 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
9196 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
9197 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
9200 @node Article Treatment
9201 @section Article Treatment
9203 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
9204 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
9205 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
9206 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
9207 these articles easier.
9210 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
9211 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
9212 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
9213 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
9214 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
9215 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
9216 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
9217 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
9218 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
9219 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
9220 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
9224 @node Article Highlighting
9225 @subsection Article Highlighting
9226 @cindex highlighting
9228 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
9229 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
9234 @kindex W H a (Summary)
9235 @findex gnus-article-highlight
9236 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
9237 Do much highlighting of the current article
9238 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
9239 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
9242 @kindex W H h (Summary)
9243 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
9244 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
9245 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
9246 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
9247 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
9248 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
9249 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
9250 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
9251 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
9252 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
9253 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
9256 @kindex W H c (Summary)
9257 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
9258 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
9260 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
9263 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
9265 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
9266 If the article size in bytes is bigger than this variable (which is
9267 25000 by default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
9269 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
9270 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
9271 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
9273 @item gnus-cite-face-list
9274 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
9275 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
9276 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
9277 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
9278 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
9280 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
9281 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
9282 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
9284 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
9285 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
9286 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
9288 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
9289 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
9290 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
9291 that it's a citation.
9293 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
9294 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
9295 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
9297 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
9298 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
9299 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
9301 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
9302 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
9303 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
9304 cited text belonging to the attribution.
9306 @item gnus-cite-ignore-quoted-from
9307 @vindex gnus-cite-ignore-quoted-from
9308 If non-@code{nil}, no citation highlighting will be performed on lines
9309 beginning with @samp{>From }. Those lines may have been quoted by MTAs
9310 in order not to mix up with the envelope From line. The default value
9317 @kindex W H s (Summary)
9318 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
9319 @vindex gnus-signature-face
9320 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
9321 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
9322 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
9323 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
9324 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
9329 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
9332 @node Article Fontisizing
9333 @subsection Article Fontisizing
9335 @cindex article emphasis
9337 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
9338 @kindex W e (Summary)
9339 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
9340 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
9341 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
9342 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
9344 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
9345 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
9346 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
9347 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
9348 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
9349 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
9350 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
9351 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
9355 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
9356 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
9357 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
9366 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
9367 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
9368 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
9369 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
9370 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
9371 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
9372 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
9373 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
9374 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
9375 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
9376 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
9377 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
9378 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
9380 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
9381 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
9382 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
9386 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
9389 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
9391 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
9392 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
9393 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
9394 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
9396 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
9399 @node Article Hiding
9400 @subsection Article Hiding
9401 @cindex article hiding
9403 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
9404 too much cruft in most articles.
9409 @kindex W W a (Summary)
9410 @findex gnus-article-hide
9411 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
9412 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
9413 headers, @acronym{PGP}, cited text and the signature.
9416 @kindex W W h (Summary)
9417 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
9418 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
9422 @kindex W W b (Summary)
9423 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
9424 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
9425 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
9428 @kindex W W s (Summary)
9429 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
9430 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
9434 @kindex W W l (Summary)
9435 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
9436 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
9437 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
9438 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
9439 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
9440 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
9441 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
9445 @item gnus-list-identifiers
9446 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
9447 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
9448 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
9453 @kindex W W P (Summary)
9454 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
9455 Hide @acronym{PEM} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
9456 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
9459 @kindex W W B (Summary)
9460 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
9461 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
9462 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
9465 @cindex stripping advertisements
9466 @cindex advertisements
9467 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
9468 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
9469 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
9470 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
9471 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
9472 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
9473 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
9474 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
9475 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
9476 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
9479 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
9480 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
9481 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
9485 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
9486 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
9487 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
9488 @code{(@var{address} . @var{banner})}, where @var{address} is a regexp
9489 matching a mail address in the From header, @var{banner} is one of a
9490 symbol @code{signature}, an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist},
9491 a regexp and @code{nil}. If @var{address} matches author's mail
9492 address, it will remove things like advertisements. For example, if a
9493 sender has the mail address @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a
9494 banner something like @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he
9495 sends, you can use the following element to remove them:
9498 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" .
9499 "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
9505 @kindex W W c (Summary)
9506 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
9507 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
9508 customizing the hiding:
9512 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
9513 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
9514 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
9515 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
9516 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
9517 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
9518 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
9523 Starting point of the hidden text.
9525 Ending point of the hidden text.
9527 Number of characters in the hidden region.
9529 Number of lines of hidden text.
9532 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
9533 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
9534 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
9535 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
9536 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
9541 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
9542 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
9544 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
9545 following two variables:
9548 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
9549 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
9550 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
9551 50), hide the cited text.
9553 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
9554 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
9555 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
9560 @kindex W W C (Summary)
9561 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
9562 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
9563 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
9564 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
9565 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
9569 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
9570 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
9571 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
9573 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
9574 citation customization.
9576 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
9580 @node Article Washing
9581 @subsection Article Washing
9583 @cindex article washing
9585 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
9586 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
9588 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
9589 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
9592 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
9593 articles by default.
9598 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
9599 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
9603 Force redisplaying of the current article
9604 (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). This is also not really washing.
9605 If you type this, you see the article without any previously applied
9606 interactive Washing functions but with all default treatments
9607 (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
9610 @kindex W l (Summary)
9611 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
9612 Remove page breaks from the current article
9613 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
9617 @kindex W r (Summary)
9618 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
9619 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
9620 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
9621 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
9622 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
9623 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
9625 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
9626 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
9627 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
9628 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
9631 @kindex W m (Summary)
9632 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
9633 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
9636 @kindex W i (Summary)
9637 @findex gnus-summary-idna-message
9638 Decode IDNA encoded domain names in the current articles. IDNA
9639 encoded domain names looks like @samp{xn--bar}. If a string remain
9640 unencoded after running invoking this, it is likely an invalid IDNA
9641 string (@samp{xn--bar} is invalid). You must have GNU Libidn
9642 (@url{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/}) installed for this command
9647 @kindex W t (Summary)
9649 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
9650 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
9651 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
9654 @kindex W v (Summary)
9655 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
9656 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
9657 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
9660 @kindex W o (Summary)
9661 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
9662 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
9665 @kindex W d (Summary)
9666 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
9667 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
9669 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
9671 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
9672 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
9673 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
9674 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
9677 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
9678 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
9679 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
9680 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
9683 @kindex W Y f (Summary)
9684 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
9685 @cindex Outlook Express
9686 Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
9687 unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
9688 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
9691 @kindex W Y u (Summary)
9692 @findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
9693 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min
9694 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max
9695 Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
9696 what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
9697 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
9698 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the minimum and
9699 maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
9700 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines}).
9703 @kindex W Y a (Summary)
9704 @findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
9705 Repair a broken attribution line.@*
9706 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
9709 @kindex W Y c (Summary)
9710 @findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
9711 Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
9712 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
9715 @kindex W w (Summary)
9716 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
9717 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
9719 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
9723 @kindex W Q (Summary)
9724 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
9725 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
9728 @kindex W C (Summary)
9729 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
9730 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
9731 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
9734 @kindex W c (Summary)
9735 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
9736 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
9737 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
9738 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
9739 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
9742 @kindex W q (Summary)
9743 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
9744 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
9745 Quoted-Printable is one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when
9746 sending non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. It typically
9747 makes strings like @samp{d@'ej@`a vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu},
9748 which doesn't look very readable to me. Note that this is usually
9749 done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
9750 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
9751 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
9754 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
9755 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
9756 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}). Base64 is
9757 one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when sending
9758 non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is
9759 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
9760 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
9761 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
9764 @kindex W Z (Summary)
9765 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
9766 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
9767 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
9768 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
9771 @kindex W A (Summary)
9772 @findex gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences
9773 @cindex @acronym{ANSI} control sequences
9774 Translate @acronym{ANSI} SGR control sequences into overlays or
9775 extents (@code{gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences}). @acronym{ANSI}
9776 sequences are used in some Chinese hierarchies for highlighting.
9779 @kindex W u (Summary)
9780 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
9781 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
9782 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
9783 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
9784 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
9787 @kindex W h (Summary)
9788 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
9789 Treat @acronym{HTML} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
9790 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
9791 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @acronym{HTML}.
9793 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for. If it is a number,
9794 the charset defined in @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist}
9795 (@pxref{Paging the Article}) will be used.
9797 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
9798 The default is to use the function specified by
9799 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display
9800 Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) to convert the
9801 @acronym{HTML}, but this is controlled by the
9802 @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions you
9810 Use @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/, emacs-w3m}.
9812 @item w3m-standalone
9813 Use @uref{http://w3m.sourceforge.net/, w3m}.
9816 Use @uref{http://links.sf.net/, Links}.
9819 Use @uref{http://lynx.isc.org/, Lynx}.
9822 Use html2text---a simple @acronym{HTML} converter included with Gnus.
9827 @kindex W b (Summary)
9828 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
9829 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
9830 @xref{Article Buttons}.
9833 @kindex W B (Summary)
9834 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
9835 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
9836 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
9839 @kindex W p (Summary)
9840 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
9841 Verify a signed control message
9842 (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}). Control messages such as
9843 @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are usually signed by the
9844 hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the @acronym{PGP} public key of
9845 the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
9846 message.@footnote{@acronym{PGP} keys for many hierarchies are
9847 available at @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
9850 @kindex W s (Summary)
9851 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
9852 Verify a signed (@acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME} or
9853 @acronym{S/MIME}) message
9854 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
9857 @kindex W a (Summary)
9858 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
9859 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
9860 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
9863 @kindex W E l (Summary)
9864 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
9865 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
9866 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
9869 @kindex W E m (Summary)
9870 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
9871 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
9872 lines with a single empty line.
9873 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
9876 @kindex W E t (Summary)
9877 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
9878 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
9879 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
9882 @kindex W E a (Summary)
9883 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
9884 Do all the three commands above
9885 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
9888 @kindex W E A (Summary)
9889 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
9890 Remove all blank lines
9891 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
9894 @kindex W E s (Summary)
9895 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
9896 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
9897 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
9900 @kindex W E e (Summary)
9901 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
9902 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
9903 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
9907 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
9910 @node Article Header
9911 @subsection Article Header
9913 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
9918 @kindex W G u (Summary)
9919 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
9920 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
9923 @kindex W G n (Summary)
9924 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
9925 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
9926 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
9929 @kindex W G f (Summary)
9930 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
9931 Fold all the message headers
9932 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
9935 @kindex W E w (Summary)
9936 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
9937 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
9938 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
9943 @node Article Buttons
9944 @subsection Article Buttons
9947 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
9948 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
9949 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
9950 button on these references.
9952 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
9953 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
9954 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man pages and
9955 Emacs or Gnus related references. This is controlled by two variables,
9956 one that handles article bodies and one that handles article heads:
9960 @item gnus-button-alist
9961 @vindex gnus-button-alist
9962 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
9965 (@var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
9971 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
9972 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
9973 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
9974 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
9975 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp} and @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp}.
9978 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
9979 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
9980 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
9983 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
9984 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
9985 avoid false matches. Often variables named
9986 @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} are used here, @xref{Article Button
9987 Levels}, but any other form may be used too.
9989 @c @code{use-p} is @code{eval}ed only if @code{regexp} matches.
9992 This function will be called when you click on this button.
9995 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
9996 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
10000 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
10003 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
10006 @item gnus-header-button-alist
10007 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
10008 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
10009 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
10010 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
10013 (@var{header} @var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
10016 @var{header} is a regular expression.
10019 @subsubsection Related variables and functions
10022 @item gnus-button-@var{*}-level
10023 @xref{Article Button Levels}.
10025 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-browse-level
10027 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
10028 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
10029 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
10030 default values of the variables above.
10032 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-man-level
10034 @item gnus-button-man-handler
10035 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
10036 The function to use for displaying man pages. It must take at least one
10037 argument with a string naming the man page.
10039 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-message-level
10041 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
10042 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
10043 Regular expression that matches a message ID or a mail address.
10045 @item gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
10046 @vindex gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
10047 This variable determines what to do when the button on a string as
10048 @samp{foo123@@bar.invalid} is pushed. Strings like this can be either a
10049 message ID or a mail address. If it is one of the symbols @code{mid} or
10050 @code{mail}, Gnus will always assume that the string is a message ID or
10051 a mail address, respectively. If this variable is set to the symbol
10052 @code{ask}, always query the user what to do. If it is a function, this
10053 function will be called with the string as its only argument. The
10054 function must return @code{mid}, @code{mail}, @code{invalid} or
10055 @code{ask}. The default value is the function
10056 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
10058 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
10059 @findex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
10060 Function that guesses whether its argument is a message ID or a mail
10061 address. Returns @code{mid} if it's a message IDs, @code{mail} if
10062 it's a mail address, @code{ask} if unsure and @code{invalid} if the
10065 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
10066 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
10067 An alist of @code{(RATE . REGEXP)} pairs used by the function
10068 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
10070 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-tex-level
10072 @item gnus-button-ctan-handler
10073 @findex gnus-button-ctan-handler
10074 The function to use for displaying CTAN links. It must take one
10075 argument, the string naming the URL.
10077 @item gnus-ctan-url
10078 @vindex gnus-ctan-url
10079 Top directory of a CTAN (Comprehensive TeX Archive Network) archive used
10080 by @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler}.
10084 @item gnus-article-button-face
10085 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
10086 Face used on buttons.
10088 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
10089 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
10090 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
10094 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
10097 @node Article Button Levels
10098 @subsection Article button levels
10099 @cindex button levels
10100 The higher the value of the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level},
10101 the more buttons will appear. If the level is zero, no corresponding
10102 buttons are displayed. With the default value (which is 5) you should
10103 already see quite a lot of buttons. With higher levels, you will see
10104 more buttons, but you may also get more false positives. To avoid them,
10105 you can set the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} local to
10106 specific groups (@pxref{Group Parameters}). Here's an example for the
10107 variable @code{gnus-parameters}:
10110 ;; @r{increase @code{gnus-button-*-level} in some groups:}
10111 (setq gnus-parameters
10112 '(("\\<\\(emacs\\|gnus\\)\\>" (gnus-button-emacs-level 10))
10113 ("\\<unix\\>" (gnus-button-man-level 10))
10114 ("\\<tex\\>" (gnus-button-tex-level 10))))
10119 @item gnus-button-browse-level
10120 @vindex gnus-button-browse-level
10121 Controls the display of references to message IDs, mail addresses and
10122 news URLs. Related variables and functions include
10123 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}, @code{browse-url}, and
10124 @code{browse-url-browser-function}.
10126 @item gnus-button-emacs-level
10127 @vindex gnus-button-emacs-level
10128 Controls the display of Emacs or Gnus references. Related functions are
10129 @code{gnus-button-handle-custom},
10130 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-function},
10131 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-variable},
10132 @code{gnus-button-handle-symbol},
10133 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-key},
10134 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos},
10135 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-command},
10136 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-variable},
10137 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-documentation}, and
10138 @code{gnus-button-handle-library}.
10140 @item gnus-button-man-level
10141 @vindex gnus-button-man-level
10142 Controls the display of references to (Unix) man pages.
10143 See @code{gnus-button-man-handler}.
10145 @item gnus-button-message-level
10146 @vindex gnus-button-message-level
10147 Controls the display of message IDs, mail addresses and news URLs.
10148 Related variables and functions include
10149 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp},
10150 @code{gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail},
10151 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}, and
10152 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist}.
10154 @item gnus-button-tex-level
10155 @vindex gnus-button-tex-level
10156 Controls the display of references to @TeX{} or LaTeX stuff, e.g. for CTAN
10157 URLs. See the variables @code{gnus-ctan-url},
10158 @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler},
10159 @code{gnus-button-ctan-directory-regexp}, and
10160 @code{gnus-button-handle-ctan-bogus-regexp}.
10166 @subsection Article Date
10168 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
10169 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
10170 when the article was sent.
10175 @kindex W T u (Summary)
10176 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
10177 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
10178 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
10181 @kindex W T i (Summary)
10182 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
10184 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
10185 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
10188 @kindex W T l (Summary)
10189 @findex gnus-article-date-local
10190 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
10193 @kindex W T p (Summary)
10194 @findex gnus-article-date-english
10195 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
10196 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
10199 @kindex W T s (Summary)
10200 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
10201 @findex gnus-article-date-user
10202 @findex format-time-string
10203 Display the date using a user-defined format
10204 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
10205 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
10206 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
10207 for a list of possible format specs.
10210 @kindex W T e (Summary)
10211 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
10212 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
10213 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
10214 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
10215 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
10218 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
10221 @vindex gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header
10222 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
10223 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
10226 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
10227 into wonderful absurdities.
10229 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
10232 (gnus-start-date-timer)
10235 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
10236 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
10240 @kindex W T o (Summary)
10241 @findex gnus-article-date-original
10242 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
10243 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
10244 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
10245 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
10246 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
10250 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
10251 preferred format automatically.
10254 @node Article Display
10255 @subsection Article Display
10260 These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
10261 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
10263 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
10264 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
10266 @code{Face} headers are small colored images supplied by the message
10267 headers (@pxref{Face}).
10269 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
10270 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
10272 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
10273 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
10275 All these functions are toggles---if the elements already exist,
10276 they'll be removed.
10280 @kindex W D x (Summary)
10281 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
10282 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
10283 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
10286 @kindex W D d (Summary)
10287 @findex gnus-article-display-face
10288 Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
10289 (@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
10292 @kindex W D s (Summary)
10293 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
10294 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
10297 @kindex W D f (Summary)
10298 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
10299 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
10302 @kindex W D m (Summary)
10303 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
10304 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
10305 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
10308 @kindex W D n (Summary)
10309 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
10310 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
10311 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
10314 @kindex W D D (Summary)
10315 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
10316 Remove all images from the article buffer
10317 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
10323 @node Article Signature
10324 @subsection Article Signature
10326 @cindex article signature
10328 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
10329 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
10330 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
10331 that says what is to be considered a signature is
10332 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
10333 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
10334 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
10335 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
10336 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
10339 (setq gnus-signature-separator
10340 '("^-- $" ; @r{The standard}
10341 "^-- *$" ; @r{A common mangling}
10342 "^-------*$" ; @r{Many people just use a looong}
10343 ; @r{line of dashes. Shame!}
10344 "^ *--------*$" ; @r{Double-shame!}
10345 "^________*$" ; @r{Underscores are also popular}
10346 "^========*$")) ; @r{Pervert!}
10349 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
10352 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
10353 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
10354 signature when displaying articles.
10358 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
10361 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
10364 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
10365 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
10367 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
10368 in question is not a signature.
10371 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
10372 listed above. Here's an example:
10375 (setq gnus-signature-limit
10376 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
10379 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
10380 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
10381 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
10382 signature after all.
10385 @node Article Miscellanea
10386 @subsection Article Miscellanea
10390 @kindex A t (Summary)
10391 @findex gnus-article-babel
10392 Translate the article from one language to another
10393 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
10398 @node MIME Commands
10399 @section MIME Commands
10400 @cindex MIME decoding
10401 @cindex attachments
10402 @cindex viewing attachments
10404 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
10405 instance, @kbd{3 K v} means ``view the third @acronym{MIME} part''.
10410 @kindex b (Summary)
10411 @kindex K v (Summary)
10412 View the @acronym{MIME} part.
10415 @kindex K o (Summary)
10416 Save the @acronym{MIME} part.
10419 @kindex K O (Summary)
10420 Prompt for a file name, then save the @acronym{MIME} part and strip it
10421 from the article. The stripped @acronym{MIME} object will be referred
10422 via the message/external-body @acronym{MIME} type.
10425 @kindex K r (Summary)
10426 Replace the @acronym{MIME} part with an external body.
10429 @kindex K d (Summary)
10430 Delete the @acronym{MIME} part and add some information about the
10434 @kindex K c (Summary)
10435 Copy the @acronym{MIME} part.
10438 @kindex K e (Summary)
10439 View the @acronym{MIME} part externally.
10442 @kindex K i (Summary)
10443 View the @acronym{MIME} part internally.
10446 @kindex K | (Summary)
10447 Pipe the @acronym{MIME} part to an external command.
10450 The rest of these @acronym{MIME} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
10455 @kindex K H (Summary)
10456 @findex gnus-article-browse-html-article
10457 View @samp{text/html} parts of the current article with a WWW browser.
10458 The message header is added to the beginning of every html part unless
10459 the prefix argument is given.
10461 Warning: Spammers use links to images in HTML articles to verify whether
10462 you have read the message. As this command passes the @acronym{HTML}
10463 content to the browser without eliminating these ``web bugs'' you should
10464 only use it for mails from trusted senders.
10466 If you always want to display @acronym{HTML} parts in the browser, set
10467 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} to @code{nil}.
10470 @kindex K b (Summary)
10471 Make all the @acronym{MIME} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
10472 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
10476 @kindex K m (Summary)
10477 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
10478 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
10479 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
10480 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
10481 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
10484 @kindex X m (Summary)
10485 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
10486 Save all parts matching a @acronym{MIME} type to a directory
10487 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
10488 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10491 @kindex M-t (Summary)
10492 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
10493 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
10494 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
10497 @kindex W M w (Summary)
10498 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
10499 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
10500 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
10503 @kindex W M c (Summary)
10504 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
10505 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
10506 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
10508 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
10509 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
10510 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
10511 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
10512 include @acronym{MIME} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
10513 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
10516 @kindex W M v (Summary)
10517 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
10518 View all the @acronym{MIME} parts in the current article
10519 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
10523 Relevant variables:
10526 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
10527 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
10528 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
10529 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
10532 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
10535 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
10539 @item gnus-article-loose-mime
10540 @vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
10541 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't require the @samp{MIME-Version} header
10542 before interpreting the message as a @acronym{MIME} message. This helps
10543 when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
10544 default is @code{t}.
10546 @item gnus-article-emulate-mime
10547 @vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
10550 There are other, non-@acronym{MIME} encoding methods used. The most common
10551 is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
10552 this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
10553 see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
10554 Gnus @acronym{MIME} machinery. The default is @code{t}. Only
10555 single-part yEnc encoded attachments can be decoded. There's no support
10556 for encoding in Gnus.
10558 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
10559 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
10560 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
10561 this list won't have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
10562 displayed or this variable is overridden by
10563 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
10564 @code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
10565 @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is @code{nil}.
10567 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
10568 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
10569 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
10570 this list will have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
10571 displayed. This variable overrides
10572 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
10573 This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
10576 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
10577 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
10578 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
10580 You could also add @code{"multipart/alternative"} to this list to
10581 display radio buttons that allow you to choose one of two media types
10582 those mails include. See also @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}
10583 (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The
10584 Emacs MIME Manual}).
10586 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
10587 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
10588 If this is non-@code{nil}, then all @acronym{MIME} parts get buttons. The
10589 default value is @code{nil}.
10591 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
10592 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
10593 For each @acronym{MIME} part, this function will be called with the @acronym{MIME}
10594 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
10595 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
10596 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
10597 save all jpegs into some directory).
10599 Here's an example function the does the latter:
10602 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
10603 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
10605 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
10606 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
10607 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
10608 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
10609 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
10612 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
10613 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
10614 Alist of @acronym{MIME} multipart types and functions to handle them.
10616 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed
10617 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed
10618 Display "multipart/alternative" parts as "multipart/mixed".
10620 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed
10621 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed
10622 Display "multipart/related" parts as "multipart/mixed".
10624 If displaying @samp{text/html} is discouraged, see
10625 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}, images or other material inside a
10626 "multipart/related" part might be overlooked when this variable is
10627 @code{nil}. @ref{Display Customization, Display Customization, ,
10628 emacs-mime, Emacs-Mime Manual}.
10630 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-as-mixed
10631 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-as-mixed
10632 Display "multipart" parts as "multipart/mixed". If @code{t}, it
10633 overrides @code{nil} values of
10634 @code{gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed} and
10635 @code{gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed}.
10637 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
10638 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
10639 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @acronym{MIME} parts.
10640 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
10642 Ready-made functions include@*
10643 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
10644 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
10645 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
10646 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
10647 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
10648 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
10649 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
10650 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
10651 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
10652 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
10653 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
10654 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
10656 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
10657 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
10659 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
10660 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
10661 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
10664 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
10665 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
10666 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
10667 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
10671 to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
10680 People use different charsets, and we have @acronym{MIME} to let us know what
10681 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
10682 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @acronym{MIME}, and
10683 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
10684 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
10685 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
10686 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp}.
10688 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
10689 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
10690 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
10691 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
10693 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets
10694 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @acronym{MIME}-aware agents that
10695 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
10696 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
10697 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
10698 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
10699 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
10700 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
10701 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
10703 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
10704 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
10705 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @acronym{MIME}
10706 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
10707 quoted-printable header encoding.
10709 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
10710 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
10711 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
10715 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
10718 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
10719 means encode all charsets),
10721 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
10722 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
10723 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
10730 @cindex coding system aliases
10731 @cindex preferred charset
10733 @xref{Encoding Customization, , Encoding Customization, emacs-mime,
10734 The Emacs MIME Manual}, for additional variables that control which
10735 MIME charsets are used when sending messages.
10737 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
10739 If there are several @acronym{MIME} charsets that encode the same Emacs
10740 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
10743 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
10744 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
10747 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
10748 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @acronym{MIME} charset.
10750 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
10753 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
10756 This will almost do the right thing.
10758 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
10762 (codepage-setup 1251)
10763 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
10767 @node Article Commands
10768 @section Article Commands
10775 @kindex A P (Summary)
10776 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
10777 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
10778 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
10779 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
10780 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
10781 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
10786 @node Summary Sorting
10787 @section Summary Sorting
10788 @cindex summary sorting
10790 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
10791 can't really see why you'd want that.
10796 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
10797 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
10798 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
10800 @item C-c C-s C-m C-n
10801 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
10802 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-number
10803 Sort by most recent article number
10804 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-number}).
10807 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
10808 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
10809 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
10812 @kindex C-c C-s C-t (Summary)
10813 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-recipient
10814 Sort by recipient (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-recipient}).
10817 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
10818 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
10819 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
10822 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
10823 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
10824 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
10826 @item C-c C-s C-m C-d
10827 @kindex C-c C-s C-m C-d (Summary)
10828 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-date
10829 Sort by most recent date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-date}).
10832 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
10833 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
10834 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
10837 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
10838 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
10839 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
10842 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
10843 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
10844 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
10847 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
10848 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
10849 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
10852 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
10853 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
10854 Sort using the default sorting method
10855 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
10858 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
10859 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
10860 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
10861 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
10862 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
10865 If a prefix argument if given, the sort order is reversed.
10868 @node Finding the Parent
10869 @section Finding the Parent
10870 @cindex parent articles
10871 @cindex referring articles
10875 @kindex ^ (Summary)
10876 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
10877 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
10878 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
10879 if the current group is fetched by @acronym{NNTP}, the parent hasn't expired
10880 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
10881 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
10882 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
10883 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
10884 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
10886 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
10887 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
10888 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
10889 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
10890 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
10893 @item A R (Summary)
10894 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
10895 @kindex A R (Summary)
10896 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
10897 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
10899 @item A T (Summary)
10900 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
10901 @kindex A T (Summary)
10902 Display the full thread where the current article appears
10903 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
10904 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
10905 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
10906 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
10907 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
10908 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
10910 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
10911 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
10912 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
10913 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
10914 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
10915 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
10917 @item M-^ (Summary)
10918 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
10919 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
10921 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
10922 You can also ask Gnus for an arbitrary article, no matter what group it
10923 belongs to. @kbd{M-^} (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you
10924 for a @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read
10925 thingies that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}.
10926 You have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
10928 Gnus looks for the @code{Message-ID} in the headers that have already
10929 been fetched, but also tries all the select methods specified by
10930 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} if it is not found.
10933 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
10934 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
10935 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
10936 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @acronym{NNTP} method. It
10937 would, perhaps, be best if the @acronym{NNTP} server you consult is the one
10938 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
10941 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
10942 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
10943 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
10946 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
10947 then ask Google if that fails:
10950 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
10952 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
10955 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
10956 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
10957 @code{nnbabyl}, @code{nnmaildir}, @code{nnml}, are able to locate
10958 articles from any groups, while @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
10959 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current
10960 group. (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does
10961 not support this at all.
10964 @node Alternative Approaches
10965 @section Alternative Approaches
10967 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
10968 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
10971 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
10972 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
10976 @node Pick and Read
10977 @subsection Pick and Read
10978 @cindex pick and read
10980 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
10981 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
10982 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
10983 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
10985 @findex gnus-pick-mode
10986 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
10987 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
10988 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
10989 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
10990 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
10992 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
10997 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
10998 Pick the article or thread on the current line
10999 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
11000 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
11001 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
11002 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
11003 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
11004 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
11007 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
11008 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
11009 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
11010 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
11014 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
11015 Unpick the thread or article
11016 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
11017 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
11018 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
11019 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
11020 the thread or article at that line.
11024 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
11025 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
11026 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
11027 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
11028 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
11029 will still be visible when you are reading.
11033 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
11034 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
11035 which is mapped to the same function
11036 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
11038 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
11041 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
11044 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
11045 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
11047 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
11048 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
11049 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
11051 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
11052 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
11053 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
11054 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
11055 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
11056 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
11057 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
11060 @node Binary Groups
11061 @subsection Binary Groups
11062 @cindex binary groups
11064 @findex gnus-binary-mode
11065 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
11066 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
11067 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
11068 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
11069 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
11070 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
11073 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
11074 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
11075 command, when you have turned on this mode
11076 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
11078 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
11079 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
11083 @section Tree Display
11086 @vindex gnus-use-trees
11087 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
11088 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
11089 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
11090 in the tree buffer.
11092 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
11095 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
11096 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
11097 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
11099 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
11100 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
11101 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
11102 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
11103 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
11105 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
11106 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
11107 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
11108 default is @code{modeline}.
11110 @item gnus-tree-line-format
11111 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
11112 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
11113 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
11114 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
11115 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
11116 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
11122 The name of the poster.
11124 The @code{From} header.
11126 The number of the article.
11128 The opening bracket.
11130 The closing bracket.
11135 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
11137 Variables related to the display are:
11140 @item gnus-tree-brackets
11141 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
11142 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
11143 ``sparse'' articles. The format is
11145 ((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
11146 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close})
11147 (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))
11149 and the default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
11151 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
11152 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
11153 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
11154 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
11158 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
11159 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
11160 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
11161 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
11162 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
11163 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
11164 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
11165 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
11166 other windows displayed next to it.
11168 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
11172 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
11173 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
11176 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
11177 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
11178 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
11179 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
11180 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
11181 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
11182 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
11186 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
11189 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
11199 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
11204 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
11205 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
11207 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
11209 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
11215 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
11216 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
11217 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
11220 (setq gnus-use-trees t
11221 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
11222 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
11223 (gnus-add-configuration
11227 (summary 0.75 point)
11232 @xref{Window Layout}.
11235 @node Mail Group Commands
11236 @section Mail Group Commands
11237 @cindex mail group commands
11239 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
11240 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
11242 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
11243 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
11248 @kindex B e (Summary)
11249 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
11250 @cindex expiring mail
11251 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
11252 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
11253 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
11254 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
11257 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
11258 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
11259 @cindex expiring mail
11260 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
11261 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
11262 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
11263 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
11266 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
11267 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
11268 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
11269 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
11270 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
11271 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
11274 @kindex B m (Summary)
11276 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
11277 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
11278 Move the article from one mail group to another
11279 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
11280 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
11283 @kindex B c (Summary)
11285 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
11286 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
11287 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
11288 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
11289 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
11292 @kindex B B (Summary)
11293 @cindex crosspost mail
11294 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
11295 Crosspost the current article to some other group
11296 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
11297 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
11298 be properly updated.
11301 @kindex B i (Summary)
11302 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
11303 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
11304 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
11305 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
11308 @kindex B I (Summary)
11309 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
11310 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
11311 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
11312 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
11315 @kindex B r (Summary)
11316 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
11317 @vindex gnus-summary-respool-default-method
11318 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
11319 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
11320 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
11321 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
11322 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
11323 (which is the default).
11327 @kindex B w (Summary)
11328 @kindex e (Summary)
11329 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
11330 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
11331 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
11332 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
11333 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
11334 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
11335 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
11338 @kindex B q (Summary)
11339 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
11340 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
11341 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
11342 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
11345 @kindex B t (Summary)
11346 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
11347 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
11348 when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
11351 @kindex B p (Summary)
11352 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
11353 Some people have a tendency to send you ``courtesy'' copies when they
11354 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
11355 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
11356 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
11357 article from your news server (or rather, from
11358 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
11359 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
11360 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
11361 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
11362 just not have arrived yet.
11365 @kindex K E (Summary)
11366 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
11367 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
11368 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
11369 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
11370 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
11374 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
11375 @cindex moving articles
11376 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
11377 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
11378 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
11379 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
11380 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
11381 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
11382 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
11385 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
11386 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
11387 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
11388 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
11392 @node Various Summary Stuff
11393 @section Various Summary Stuff
11396 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
11397 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
11398 * Summary Generation Commands::
11399 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
11403 @vindex gnus-summary-display-while-building
11404 @item gnus-summary-display-while-building
11405 If non-@code{nil}, show and update the summary buffer as it's being
11406 built. If @code{t}, update the buffer after every line is inserted.
11407 If the value is an integer, @var{n}, update the display every @var{n}
11408 lines. The default is @code{nil}.
11410 @vindex gnus-summary-display-arrow
11411 @item gnus-summary-display-arrow
11412 If non-@code{nil}, display an arrow in the fringe to indicate the
11415 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
11416 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
11417 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
11419 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
11420 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
11421 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
11422 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
11423 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
11424 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
11427 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
11428 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
11429 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
11430 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
11431 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
11433 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
11434 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
11435 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
11438 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
11439 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
11440 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
11441 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
11442 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
11443 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
11444 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
11445 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
11446 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
11447 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
11449 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
11450 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
11451 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
11452 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
11453 list of articles to be selected.
11455 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
11456 the list in one particular group:
11459 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
11460 (if (string= group "some.group")
11461 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
11465 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
11466 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
11467 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
11468 variables and their default expressions to be evalled (when the default
11469 values are not @code{nil}), that should be made global while the summary
11472 Note: The default expressions will be evaluated (using function
11473 @code{eval}) before assignment to the local variable rather than just
11474 assigned to it. If the default expression is the symbol @code{global},
11475 that symbol will not be evaluated but the global value of the local
11476 variable will be used instead.
11478 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
11479 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
11480 buffers. For example:
11483 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
11484 '(message-use-followup-to
11485 (gnus-visible-headers .
11486 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
11489 Also @pxref{Group Parameters}.
11491 @vindex gnus-propagate-marks
11492 @item gnus-propagate-marks
11493 If non-@code{nil}, propagate marks to the backends for possible
11494 storing. @xref{NNTP marks}, and friends, for a more fine-grained
11500 @node Summary Group Information
11501 @subsection Summary Group Information
11506 @kindex H f (Summary)
11507 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
11508 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
11509 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} (list of frequently asked questions)
11510 for the current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try
11511 to get the @acronym{FAQ} from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which
11512 is usually a directory on a remote machine. This variable can also be
11513 a list of directories. In that case, giving a prefix to this command
11514 will allow you to choose between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp}
11515 or @code{efs} will probably be used for fetching the file.
11518 @kindex H d (Summary)
11519 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
11520 Give a brief description of the current group
11521 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
11522 rereading the description from the server.
11525 @kindex H h (Summary)
11526 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
11527 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
11528 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
11531 @kindex H i (Summary)
11532 @findex gnus-info-find-node
11533 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
11537 @node Searching for Articles
11538 @subsection Searching for Articles
11543 @kindex M-s (Summary)
11544 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
11545 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
11546 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
11549 @kindex M-r (Summary)
11550 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
11551 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
11552 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
11555 @kindex M-S (Summary)
11556 @findex gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-forward
11557 Repeat the previous search forwards
11558 (@code{gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-forward}).
11561 @kindex M-R (Summary)
11562 @findex gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-backward
11563 Repeat the previous search backwards
11564 (@code{gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-backward}).
11567 @kindex & (Summary)
11568 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
11569 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
11570 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
11571 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
11572 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
11573 search backward instead.
11575 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string RET #} will put the process mark on
11576 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
11579 @kindex M-& (Summary)
11580 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
11581 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
11582 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
11585 @node Summary Generation Commands
11586 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
11591 @kindex Y g (Summary)
11592 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
11593 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
11596 @kindex Y c (Summary)
11597 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
11598 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
11599 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
11602 @kindex Y d (Summary)
11603 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
11604 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
11605 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
11608 @kindex Y t (Summary)
11609 @findex gnus-summary-insert-ticked-articles
11610 Pull all ticked articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
11611 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-ticked-articles}).
11616 @node Really Various Summary Commands
11617 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
11623 @kindex C-d (Summary)
11624 @kindex A D (Summary)
11625 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
11626 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
11627 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
11628 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
11629 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
11630 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
11631 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
11632 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
11635 @vindex gnus-auto-select-on-ephemeral-exit
11636 The variable @code{gnus-auto-select-on-ephemeral-exit} controls what
11637 article should be selected after exiting a digest group. Valid values
11642 Select the next article.
11645 Select the next unread article.
11647 @item next-noselect
11648 Move the cursor to the next article. This is the default.
11650 @item next-unread-noselect
11651 Move the cursor to the next unread article.
11654 If it has any other value or there is no next (unread) article, the
11655 article selected before entering to the digest group will appear.
11658 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
11659 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
11660 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
11661 several documents into one biiig group
11662 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
11663 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
11664 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
11665 command understands the process/prefix convention
11666 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
11669 @kindex C-t (Summary)
11670 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
11671 Toggle truncation of summary lines
11672 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
11673 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
11674 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
11677 @kindex = (Summary)
11678 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
11679 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
11680 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
11683 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
11684 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
11685 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
11686 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
11689 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
11690 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
11691 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
11692 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
11697 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
11698 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
11699 @cindex summary exit
11700 @cindex exiting groups
11702 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
11703 group and return you to the group buffer.
11710 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
11711 @kindex Z Q (Summary)
11712 @kindex q (Summary)
11713 @findex gnus-summary-exit
11714 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
11715 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
11716 @vindex gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook
11717 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
11718 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
11719 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
11720 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
11721 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
11722 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
11723 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
11724 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
11728 @kindex Z E (Summary)
11729 @kindex Q (Summary)
11730 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
11731 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
11732 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
11736 @kindex Z c (Summary)
11737 @kindex c (Summary)
11738 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
11739 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
11740 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
11741 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
11744 @kindex Z C (Summary)
11745 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
11746 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
11747 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
11750 @kindex Z n (Summary)
11751 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
11752 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
11753 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
11756 @kindex Z p (Summary)
11757 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-prev-group
11758 Mark all articles as read and go to the previous group
11759 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-prev-group}).
11763 @kindex Z R (Summary)
11764 @kindex C-x C-s (Summary)
11765 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
11766 Exit this group, and then enter it again
11767 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
11768 all articles, both read and unread.
11772 @kindex Z G (Summary)
11773 @kindex M-g (Summary)
11774 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
11775 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
11776 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
11777 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
11778 articles, both read and unread.
11781 @kindex Z N (Summary)
11782 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
11783 Exit the group and go to the next group
11784 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
11787 @kindex Z P (Summary)
11788 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
11789 Exit the group and go to the previous group
11790 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
11793 @kindex Z s (Summary)
11794 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
11795 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
11796 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
11797 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
11798 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
11801 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
11802 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
11803 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
11804 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
11806 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
11807 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
11808 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
11809 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
11810 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
11811 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
11812 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
11813 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
11814 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
11815 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
11816 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
11817 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
11819 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
11821 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
11822 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
11823 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
11824 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
11825 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
11826 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
11827 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
11828 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
11829 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
11832 @node Crosspost Handling
11833 @section Crosspost Handling
11837 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
11838 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
11839 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
11840 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
11841 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
11842 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
11845 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
11846 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
11847 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
11848 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
11849 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
11851 @cindex cross-posting
11853 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
11854 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
11855 correctly is if you use an @acronym{NNTP} server that supports @sc{xover}
11856 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
11857 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @acronym{NOV} lines. This is
11858 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
11859 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
11860 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
11861 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
11862 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
11863 the cross reference mechanism.
11865 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
11866 @cindex overview.fmt
11867 To check whether your @acronym{NNTP} server includes the @code{Xref} header
11868 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
11869 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
11870 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
11871 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
11872 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
11875 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
11876 set @code{nntp-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
11877 considerably. Also @pxref{Slow/Expensive Connection}.
11881 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
11884 @node Duplicate Suppression
11885 @section Duplicate Suppression
11887 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
11888 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
11889 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
11890 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
11895 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
11896 is evil and not very common.
11899 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
11900 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
11903 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
11904 different @acronym{NNTP} servers.
11907 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
11910 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
11911 well, but these four are the most common situations.
11913 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
11914 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
11915 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
11916 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
11917 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
11918 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
11919 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
11922 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
11923 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
11924 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
11925 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
11926 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
11927 saw the article in.
11930 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
11931 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
11932 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
11934 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
11935 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
11936 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
11937 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
11938 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
11939 session are suppressed.
11941 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
11942 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
11943 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
11944 suppression list. The default is 10000.
11946 @item gnus-duplicate-file
11947 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
11948 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
11949 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
11952 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
11953 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
11954 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
11955 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
11956 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
11957 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
11958 to you to figure out, I think.
11963 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
11964 The formats that are supported are @acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME}
11965 and @acronym{S/MIME}, however you need some external programs to get
11970 To handle @acronym{PGP} and @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages, you have to
11971 install an OpenPGP implementation such as GnuPG. The Lisp interface
11972 to GnuPG included with Gnus is called PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg, PGG
11973 Manual}), but Mailcrypt and gpg.el are also supported.
11976 To handle @acronym{S/MIME} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
11977 or newer is recommended.
11981 The variables that control security functionality on reading messages
11985 @item mm-verify-option
11986 @vindex mm-verify-option
11987 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
11988 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
11989 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
11991 @item mm-decrypt-option
11992 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
11993 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
11994 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
11995 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
11998 @vindex mml1991-use
11999 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
12000 @acronym{PGP} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
12001 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
12005 @vindex mml2015-use
12006 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
12007 @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
12008 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
12013 By default the buttons that display security information are not
12014 shown, because they clutter reading the actual e-mail. You can type
12015 @kbd{K b} manually to display the information. Use the
12016 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types} and
12017 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} variables to control this
12018 permanently. @ref{MIME Commands} for further details, and hints on
12019 how to customize these variables to always display security
12022 @cindex snarfing keys
12023 @cindex importing PGP keys
12024 @cindex PGP key ring import
12025 Snarfing OpenPGP keys (i.e., importing keys from articles into your
12026 key ring) is not supported explicitly through a menu item or command,
12027 rather Gnus do detect and label keys as @samp{application/pgp-keys},
12028 allowing you to specify whatever action you think is appropriate
12029 through the usual @acronym{MIME} infrastructure. You can use a
12030 @file{~/.mailcap} entry (@pxref{mailcap, , mailcap, emacs-mime, The
12031 Emacs MIME Manual}) such as the following to import keys using GNU
12032 Privacy Guard when you click on the @acronym{MIME} button
12033 (@pxref{Using MIME}).
12036 application/pgp-keys; gpg --import --interactive --verbose; needsterminal
12039 This happens to also be the default action defined in
12040 @code{mailcap-mime-data}.
12042 More information on how to set things for sending outgoing signed and
12043 encrypted messages up can be found in the message manual
12044 (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
12047 @section Mailing List
12048 @cindex mailing list
12051 @kindex A M (summary)
12052 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
12053 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
12054 add a @code{to-list} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
12055 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
12058 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
12063 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
12064 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
12065 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
12068 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
12069 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
12070 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
12073 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
12074 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
12075 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
12079 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
12080 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
12081 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
12084 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
12085 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
12086 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
12089 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
12090 @findex gnus-mailing-list-archive
12091 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
12096 @node Article Buffer
12097 @chapter Article Buffer
12098 @cindex article buffer
12100 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
12101 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
12102 tell Gnus otherwise.
12105 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
12106 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
12107 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
12108 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
12109 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
12113 @node Hiding Headers
12114 @section Hiding Headers
12115 @cindex hiding headers
12116 @cindex deleting headers
12118 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
12119 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
12121 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
12122 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
12123 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
12124 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
12125 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
12126 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
12127 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseam---and you'll probably want to get rid
12128 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
12129 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
12131 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
12135 @item gnus-visible-headers
12136 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
12137 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
12138 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
12139 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
12141 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
12142 the article and the subject, you'd say:
12145 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
12148 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
12151 @item gnus-ignored-headers
12152 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
12153 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
12154 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
12155 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
12156 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
12158 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
12159 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
12162 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
12165 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
12168 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
12169 variable will have no effect.
12173 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
12174 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
12175 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
12176 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
12177 the headers are to be displayed.
12179 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
12180 and then the subject, you might say something like:
12183 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
12186 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
12187 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
12189 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
12190 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
12191 You can hide further boring headers by setting
12192 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
12193 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
12194 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead it
12195 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
12198 These conditions are:
12201 Remove all empty headers.
12203 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
12204 @code{Newsgroups} header.
12206 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same addresses as
12207 the @code{From} header, or if the @code{broken-reply-to} group
12210 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
12213 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
12214 the current group's @code{to-address} parameter.
12216 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
12217 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
12219 Remove the @code{Cc} header if it only contains the address identical to
12220 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
12222 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
12225 Remove the @code{To} and/or @code{Cc} header if it is very long.
12227 Remove all @code{To} and/or @code{Cc} headers if there are more than one.
12230 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
12233 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
12234 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
12237 This is also the default value for this variable.
12241 @section Using MIME
12242 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
12244 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
12245 while people stand around yawning.
12247 @acronym{MIME}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
12248 while all newsreaders die of fear.
12250 @acronym{MIME} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
12251 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
12252 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
12254 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
12255 @findex gnus-display-mime
12256 Gnus pushes @acronym{MIME} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
12257 to display the @acronym{MIME} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
12258 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
12259 display, save and manipulate the @acronym{MIME} objects.
12261 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
12262 @acronym{MIME} button:
12265 @findex gnus-article-press-button
12266 @item RET (Article)
12267 @kindex RET (Article)
12268 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
12269 Toggle displaying of the @acronym{MIME} object
12270 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}). If built-in viewers can not display
12271 the object, Gnus resorts to external viewers in the @file{mailcap}
12272 files. If a viewer has the @samp{copiousoutput} specification, the
12273 object is displayed inline.
12275 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
12276 @item M-RET (Article)
12277 @kindex M-RET (Article)
12279 Prompt for a method, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
12280 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
12282 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
12284 @kindex t (Article)
12285 View the @acronym{MIME} object as if it were a different @acronym{MIME} media type
12286 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
12288 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
12290 @kindex C (Article)
12291 Prompt for a charset, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
12292 charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
12294 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
12296 @kindex o (Article)
12297 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @acronym{MIME} object
12298 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
12300 @findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
12301 @item C-o (Article)
12302 @kindex C-o (Article)
12303 Prompt for a file name, then save the @acronym{MIME} object and strip it from
12304 the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
12305 suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
12306 like. The stripped @acronym{MIME} object will be referred via the
12307 message/external-body @acronym{MIME} type.
12308 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
12310 @findex gnus-mime-replace-part
12312 @kindex r (Article)
12313 Prompt for a file name, replace the @acronym{MIME} object with an
12314 external body refering to the file via the message/external-body
12315 @acronym{MIME} type. (@code{gnus-mime-replace-part}).
12317 @findex gnus-mime-delete-part
12319 @kindex d (Article)
12320 Delete the @acronym{MIME} object from the article and replace it with some
12321 information about the removed @acronym{MIME} object
12322 (@code{gnus-mime-delete-part}).
12324 @c FIXME: gnus-auto-select-part should be documented here
12326 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
12328 @kindex c (Article)
12329 Copy the @acronym{MIME} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
12330 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}). If given a prefix, copy the raw contents
12331 without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual
12332 charset stuff (see @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in
12333 @ref{Paging the Article}). Compressed files like @file{.gz} and
12334 @file{.bz2} are automatically decompressed if
12335 @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled (@pxref{Compressed Files,,
12336 Accessing Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Editor}).
12338 @findex gnus-mime-print-part
12340 @kindex p (Article)
12341 Print the @acronym{MIME} object (@code{gnus-mime-print-part}). This
12342 command respects the @samp{print=} specifications in the
12343 @file{.mailcap} file.
12345 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
12347 @kindex i (Article)
12348 Insert the contents of the @acronym{MIME} object into the buffer
12349 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as @samp{text/plain}. If given a prefix, insert
12350 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
12351 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
12352 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @ref{Paging the
12353 Article}). Compressed files like @file{.gz} and @file{.bz2} are
12354 automatically decompressed depending on @code{jka-compr} regardless of
12355 @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed Files,, Accessing
12356 Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Editor}).
12358 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-internally
12360 @kindex E (Article)
12361 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
12362 viewer is available, use an external viewer
12363 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-internally}).
12365 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-externally
12367 @kindex e (Article)
12368 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an external viewer.
12369 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-externally}).
12371 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
12373 @kindex | (Article)
12374 Output the @acronym{MIME} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
12376 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
12378 @kindex . (Article)
12379 Interactively run an action on the @acronym{MIME} object
12380 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
12384 Gnus will display some @acronym{MIME} objects automatically. The way Gnus
12385 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs
12386 @acronym{MIME} manual.
12388 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
12389 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
12390 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @acronym{MIME} has
12391 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
12392 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
12393 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
12394 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
12395 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
12396 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
12398 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
12400 Also @pxref{MIME Commands}.
12403 @node Customizing Articles
12404 @section Customizing Articles
12405 @cindex article customization
12407 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
12408 exist. You can call these functions interactively
12409 (@pxref{Article Washing}), or you can have them
12410 called automatically when you select the articles.
12412 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
12413 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
12414 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
12415 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
12417 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
12418 for sensible values.
12422 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
12425 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
12428 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
12431 @code{first}: Do this treatment on the first body part.
12434 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last body part.
12437 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
12441 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
12442 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
12443 regexps in the list.
12446 A list where the first element is not a string:
12448 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
12449 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
12450 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
12454 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
12459 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
12460 to the fact that some messages are @acronym{MIME} multipart articles that may
12461 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
12462 considered to contain just a single part.
12464 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
12465 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
12466 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
12467 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
12468 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
12469 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
12470 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
12473 @c Avoid sort of redundant entries in the same section for the printed
12474 @c manual, but add them in info to allow `i gnus-treat-foo-bar RET' or
12476 @vindex gnus-treat-buttonize
12477 @vindex gnus-treat-buttonize-head
12478 @vindex gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences
12479 @vindex gnus-treat-overstrike
12480 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-cr
12481 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body
12482 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines
12483 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines
12484 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-pem
12485 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines
12486 @vindex gnus-treat-unsplit-urls
12487 @vindex gnus-treat-wash-html
12488 @vindex gnus-treat-date-english
12489 @vindex gnus-treat-date-iso8601
12490 @vindex gnus-treat-date-lapsed
12491 @vindex gnus-treat-date-local
12492 @vindex gnus-treat-date-original
12493 @vindex gnus-treat-date-user-defined
12494 @vindex gnus-treat-date-ut
12495 @vindex gnus-treat-from-picon
12496 @vindex gnus-treat-mail-picon
12497 @vindex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
12498 @vindex gnus-treat-display-smileys
12499 @vindex gnus-treat-body-boundary
12500 @vindex gnus-treat-display-x-face
12501 @vindex gnus-treat-display-face
12502 @vindex gnus-treat-emphasize
12503 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-article
12504 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-long-lines
12505 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers
12506 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation
12507 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe
12508 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-headers
12509 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-signature
12510 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-banner
12511 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers
12512 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-citation
12513 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-headers
12514 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-signature
12515 @vindex gnus-treat-play-sounds
12516 @vindex gnus-treat-translate
12517 @vindex gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig
12518 @vindex gnus-treat-unfold-headers
12519 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-headers
12520 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups
12521 @vindex gnus-treat-leading-whitespace
12524 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
12525 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
12526 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
12527 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
12530 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
12531 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
12533 @xref{Article Buttons}.
12535 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
12536 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
12537 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
12538 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
12539 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, first, integer)
12540 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
12541 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
12542 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
12543 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
12544 @item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
12546 @xref{Article Washing}.
12548 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
12549 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
12550 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
12551 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
12552 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
12553 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
12554 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
12556 @xref{Article Date}.
12558 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
12559 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
12560 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
12564 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
12566 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
12568 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
12569 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
12570 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
12574 @vindex gnus-treat-display-x-face
12575 @item gnus-treat-display-x-face (head)
12579 @vindex gnus-treat-display-face
12580 @item gnus-treat-display-face (head)
12584 @vindex gnus-treat-emphasize
12585 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
12586 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-article
12587 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
12588 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-long-lines
12589 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
12590 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers
12591 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
12592 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation
12593 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
12594 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe
12595 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
12596 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-headers
12597 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
12598 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-signature
12599 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
12600 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-banner
12601 @item gnus-treat-strip-banner (t, last)
12602 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers
12603 @item gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers (head)
12605 @xref{Article Hiding}.
12607 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-citation
12608 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
12609 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-headers
12610 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
12611 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-signature
12612 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
12614 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
12616 @vindex gnus-treat-play-sounds
12617 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
12618 @vindex gnus-treat-translate
12619 @item gnus-treat-translate
12620 @item gnus-treat-ansi-sequences (t)
12621 @vindex gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig
12622 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
12624 @vindex gnus-treat-unfold-headers
12625 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
12626 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-headers
12627 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
12628 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups
12629 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
12630 @vindex gnus-treat-leading-whitespace
12631 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
12633 @xref{Article Header}.
12638 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
12639 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
12640 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
12641 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
12642 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
12646 @node Article Keymap
12647 @section Article Keymap
12649 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
12650 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
12651 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
12652 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
12655 @kindex v (Article)
12656 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Article)
12657 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
12658 command or better use it as a prefix key.
12660 A few additional keystrokes are available:
12665 @kindex SPACE (Article)
12666 @findex gnus-article-next-page
12667 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
12668 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h SPACE h}.
12671 @kindex DEL (Article)
12672 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
12673 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
12674 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h DEL h}.
12677 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
12678 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
12679 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
12680 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
12681 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
12684 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
12685 @findex gnus-article-mail
12686 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
12687 given a prefix, include the mail.
12690 @kindex s (Article)
12691 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
12692 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
12693 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
12696 @kindex ? (Article)
12697 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
12698 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
12699 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
12702 @kindex TAB (Article)
12703 @findex gnus-article-next-button
12704 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
12705 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
12708 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
12709 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
12710 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
12713 @kindex R (Article)
12714 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
12715 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
12716 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If the region is active,
12717 only yank the text in the region.
12720 @kindex S W (Article)
12721 @findex gnus-article-wide-reply-with-original
12722 Send a wide reply to the current article and yank the current article
12723 (@code{gnus-article-wide-reply-with-original}). If the region is
12724 active, only yank the text in the region.
12727 @kindex F (Article)
12728 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
12729 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
12730 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If the region is active,
12731 only yank the text in the region.
12738 @section Misc Article
12742 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
12743 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
12744 @cindex article buffers, several
12745 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
12746 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
12749 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
12750 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
12751 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
12752 Hook used to decode @acronym{MIME} articles. The default value is
12753 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
12755 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
12756 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
12757 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
12758 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
12759 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
12760 the contents of the article buffer.
12762 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
12763 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
12764 Hook called in article mode buffers.
12766 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
12767 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
12768 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
12769 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
12771 @vindex gnus-article-over-scroll
12772 @item gnus-article-over-scroll
12773 If non-@code{nil}, allow scrolling the article buffer even when there
12774 no more new text to scroll in. The default is @code{nil}.
12776 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
12777 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
12778 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
12779 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Summary Buffer Mode
12780 Line}). It accepts the same format specifications as that variable,
12781 with two extensions:
12786 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
12787 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
12788 performed. The characters and their meaning:
12793 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
12796 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
12799 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
12800 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
12801 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
12804 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
12807 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
12810 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasized strings in the article buffer.
12815 The number of @acronym{MIME} parts in the article.
12819 @vindex gnus-break-pages
12821 @item gnus-break-pages
12822 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
12823 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
12824 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
12825 paging will not be done.
12827 @item gnus-page-delimiter
12828 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
12829 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
12833 @cindex internationalized domain names
12834 @vindex gnus-use-idna
12835 @item gnus-use-idna
12836 This variable controls whether Gnus performs IDNA decoding of
12837 internationalized domain names inside @samp{From}, @samp{To} and
12838 @samp{Cc} headers. @xref{IDNA, ,IDNA,message, The Message Manual},
12839 for how to compose such messages. This requires
12840 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/, GNU Libidn}, and this
12841 variable is only enabled if you have installed it.
12846 @node Composing Messages
12847 @chapter Composing Messages
12848 @cindex composing messages
12851 @cindex sending mail
12856 @cindex using s/mime
12857 @cindex using smime
12859 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
12860 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
12861 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
12862 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
12863 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
12864 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
12867 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
12868 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
12869 * POP before SMTP:: You cannot send a mail unless you read a mail.
12870 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
12871 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
12872 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
12873 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
12874 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
12875 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
12878 Also @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
12879 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
12885 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
12888 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
12889 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
12890 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
12891 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
12892 @code{nil} include all headers.
12894 @item gnus-add-to-list
12895 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
12896 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
12897 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
12899 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
12900 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
12901 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you for a confirmation when you are
12902 about to reply to news articles by mail. If it is @code{nil}, nothing
12903 interferes in what you want to do. This can also be a function
12904 receiving the group name as the only parameter which should return
12905 non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is needed, or a regular expression
12906 matching group names, where confirmation should be asked for.
12908 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
12909 press @kbd{R} anyway, this variable might be for you.
12911 @item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
12912 @vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
12913 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
12914 @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
12915 useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
12920 @node Posting Server
12921 @section Posting Server
12923 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
12924 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
12926 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
12928 It can be quite complicated.
12930 @vindex gnus-post-method
12931 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
12932 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
12933 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
12934 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
12935 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
12936 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
12937 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
12938 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
12939 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
12942 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
12945 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
12946 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
12947 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
12948 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
12950 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
12951 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
12953 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
12954 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
12957 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
12958 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
12960 @vindex message-send-mail-function
12961 When sending mail, Message invokes the function specified by the
12962 variable @code{message-send-mail-function}. Gnus tries to set it to a
12963 value suitable for your system.
12964 @xref{Mail Variables, ,Mail Variables,message,Message manual}, for more
12967 @node POP before SMTP
12968 @section POP before SMTP
12969 @cindex pop before smtp
12970 @findex message-smtpmail-send-it
12971 @findex mail-source-touch-pop
12973 Does your @acronym{ISP} require the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP}
12974 authentication? It is whether you need to connect to the @acronym{POP}
12975 mail server within a certain time before sending mails. If so, there is
12976 a convenient way. To do that, put the following lines in your
12977 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
12980 (setq message-send-mail-function 'message-smtpmail-send-it)
12981 (add-hook 'message-send-mail-hook 'mail-source-touch-pop)
12985 It means to let Gnus connect to the @acronym{POP} mail server in advance
12986 whenever you send a mail. The @code{mail-source-touch-pop} function
12987 does only a @acronym{POP} authentication according to the value of
12988 @code{mail-sources} without fetching mails, just before sending a mail.
12989 Note that you have to use @code{message-smtpmail-send-it} which runs
12990 @code{message-send-mail-hook} rather than @code{smtpmail-send-it} and
12991 set the value of @code{mail-sources} for a @acronym{POP} connection
12992 correctly. @xref{Mail Sources}.
12994 If you have two or more @acronym{POP} mail servers set in
12995 @code{mail-sources}, you may want to specify one of them to
12996 @code{mail-source-primary-source} as the @acronym{POP} mail server to be
12997 used for the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication. If it
12998 is your primary @acronym{POP} mail server (i.e., you are fetching mails
12999 mainly from that server), you can set it permanently as follows:
13002 (setq mail-source-primary-source
13003 '(pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13004 :password "secret"))
13008 Otherwise, bind it dynamically only when performing the
13009 @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication as follows:
13012 (add-hook 'message-send-mail-hook
13014 (let ((mail-source-primary-source
13015 '(pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13016 :password "secret")))
13017 (mail-source-touch-pop))))
13020 @node Mail and Post
13021 @section Mail and Post
13023 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
13027 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
13028 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
13029 @cindex mailing lists
13031 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
13032 gatewayed to the @acronym{NNTP} server, you can read those groups without
13033 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
13034 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
13035 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
13036 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
13037 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
13038 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
13039 still a pain, though.
13041 @item gnus-user-agent
13042 @vindex gnus-user-agent
13045 This variable controls which information should be exposed in the
13046 User-Agent header. It can be a list of symbols or a string. Valid
13047 symbols are @code{gnus} (show Gnus version) and @code{emacs} (show Emacs
13048 version). In addition to the Emacs version, you can add @code{codename}
13049 (show (S)XEmacs codename) or either @code{config} (show system
13050 configuration) or @code{type} (show system type). If you set it to a
13051 string, be sure to use a valid format, see RFC 2616.
13055 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
13056 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
13057 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
13060 @findex ispell-message
13062 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
13065 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
13066 you're in, you could say something like the following:
13069 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
13073 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
13074 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
13076 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
13079 Modify to suit your needs.
13081 @vindex gnus-message-highlight-citation
13082 If @code{gnus-message-highlight-citation} is t, different levels of
13083 citations are highlighted like in Gnus article buffers also in message
13086 @node Archived Messages
13087 @section Archived Messages
13088 @cindex archived messages
13089 @cindex sent messages
13091 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
13092 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
13093 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
13094 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
13097 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
13098 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
13101 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
13102 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
13103 use to store sent messages. The default is @code{"archive"}, and when
13104 actually being used it is expanded into:
13107 (nnfolder "archive"
13108 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
13109 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
13110 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
13111 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
13115 @vindex gnus-update-message-archive-method
13116 Note: a server like this is saved in the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file first
13117 so that it may be used as a real method of the server which is named
13118 @code{"archive"} (that is, for the case where
13119 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} is set to @code{"archive"}) ever
13120 since. If it once has been saved, it will never be updated by default
13121 even if you change the value of @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
13122 afterward. Therefore, the server @code{"archive"} doesn't necessarily
13123 mean the @code{nnfolder} server like this at all times. If you want the
13124 saved method to reflect always the value of
13125 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, set the
13126 @code{gnus-update-message-archive-method} variable to a non-@code{nil}
13127 value. The default value of this variable is @code{nil}.
13130 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
13131 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
13132 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
13133 directory chosen, you could say something like:
13136 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
13137 '(nnfolder "archive"
13138 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
13139 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
13140 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
13143 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
13145 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
13146 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
13147 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
13149 This variable can be used to do the following:
13153 Messages will be saved in that group.
13155 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
13156 message will not be stored in the select method given by
13157 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
13158 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
13159 has the default value shown above. Then setting
13160 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
13161 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
13162 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
13165 @item a list of strings
13166 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
13168 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
13169 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
13172 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
13177 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
13179 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
13182 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
13184 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
13187 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
13189 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
13190 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
13191 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
13192 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
13195 More complex stuff:
13197 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
13198 '((if (message-news-p)
13203 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
13204 messages in one file per month:
13207 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
13208 '((if (message-news-p)
13210 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
13213 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
13214 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
13216 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
13217 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
13218 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
13219 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
13220 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
13221 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
13222 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
13223 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
13224 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
13225 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
13227 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
13228 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
13229 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
13230 this will disable archiving.
13233 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
13234 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
13235 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
13236 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
13237 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
13240 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
13241 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
13242 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
13245 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
13246 but the latter is the preferred method.
13248 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
13249 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
13250 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
13252 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
13253 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
13254 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
13255 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
13256 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
13257 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
13258 changed in the future.
13263 @node Posting Styles
13264 @section Posting Styles
13265 @cindex posting styles
13268 All them variables, they make my head swim.
13270 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
13271 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
13272 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
13275 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
13276 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
13277 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
13278 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
13279 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
13284 (signature "Peace and happiness")
13285 (organization "What me?"))
13287 (signature "Death to everybody"))
13288 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
13289 (organization "Emacs is it")))
13292 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
13293 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
13294 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
13295 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
13296 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
13297 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
13298 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
13299 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
13301 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
13302 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
13303 If it is the form @code{(header @var{match} @var{regexp})}, then Gnus
13304 will look in the original article for a header whose name is
13305 @var{match} and compare that @var{regexp}. @var{match} and
13306 @var{regexp} are strings. (The original article is the one you are
13307 replying or following up to. If you are not composing a reply or a
13308 followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
13309 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with
13310 no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
13311 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
13312 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is
13313 said to @dfn{match}.
13315 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
13316 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. In
13317 addition, you can also use the @code{(@var{name} :file @var{value})}
13318 form or the @code{(@var{name} :value @var{value})} form. Where
13319 @code{:file} signifies @var{value} represents a file name and its
13320 contents should be used as the attribute value, @code{:value} signifies
13321 @var{value} does not represent a file name explicitly. The attribute
13322 name can be one of:
13325 @item @code{signature}
13326 @item @code{signature-file}
13327 @item @code{x-face-file}
13328 @item @code{address}, overriding @code{user-mail-address}
13329 @item @code{name}, overriding @code{(user-full-name)}
13333 Note that the @code{signature-file} attribute honors the variable
13334 @code{message-signature-directory}.
13336 The attribute name can also be a string or a symbol. In that case,
13337 this will be used as a header name, and the value will be inserted in
13338 the headers of the article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header
13339 name will be removed. If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form
13340 is evaluated, and the result is thrown away.
13342 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
13343 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
13344 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
13345 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
13346 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
13347 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
13348 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
13349 references chars lines xref extra.
13351 @vindex message-reply-headers
13353 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
13354 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
13355 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
13357 @findex message-mail-p
13358 @findex message-news-p
13360 So here's a new example:
13363 (setq gnus-posting-styles
13365 (signature-file "~/.signature")
13367 (x-face-file "~/.xface")
13368 (x-url (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
13369 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
13371 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
13372 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; @r{A form}
13373 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
13374 (message-news-p ;; @r{A function symbol}
13375 (signature my-news-signature))
13376 (window-system ;; @r{A value symbol}
13377 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
13378 ;; @r{If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.}
13379 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
13380 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
13381 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; @r{A user defined function}
13382 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
13383 (address "user@@bar.foo")
13384 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
13385 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
13387 (From (save-excursion
13388 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
13389 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
13391 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
13394 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
13395 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
13396 if you fill many roles.
13397 You may also use @code{message-alternative-emails} instead.
13398 @xref{Message Headers, ,Message Headers, message, Message Manual}.
13404 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
13405 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
13406 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
13407 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
13408 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
13410 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
13411 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
13412 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
13413 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
13414 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
13418 @vindex nndraft-directory
13419 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
13420 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
13421 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
13422 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
13423 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
13424 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
13426 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
13427 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
13428 unsubscribe it. The special properties of the draft group comes from
13429 a group property (@pxref{Group Parameters}), and if lost the group
13430 behaves like any other group. This means the commands below will not
13431 be available. To restore the special properties of the group, the
13432 simplest way is to kill the group, using @kbd{C-k}, and restart
13433 Gnus. The group is automatically created again with the
13434 correct parameters. The content of the group is not lost.
13436 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
13437 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
13438 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
13439 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
13440 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
13441 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
13442 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
13443 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
13444 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
13445 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
13446 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
13447 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
13448 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
13449 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
13451 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
13452 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
13453 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
13455 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
13456 @kindex D e (Draft)
13457 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
13458 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
13459 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
13461 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
13464 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
13465 @kindex D s (Draft)
13466 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
13467 @kindex D S (Draft)
13468 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
13469 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
13470 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
13471 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
13472 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
13475 @findex gnus-draft-toggle-sending
13476 @kindex D t (Draft)
13477 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
13478 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
13479 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
13482 @node Rejected Articles
13483 @section Rejected Articles
13484 @cindex rejected articles
13486 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
13487 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
13488 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
13489 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
13491 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
13492 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
13493 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
13494 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
13495 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
13497 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
13498 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
13499 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
13501 @node Signing and encrypting
13502 @section Signing and encrypting
13504 @cindex using s/mime
13505 @cindex using smime
13507 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla
13508 @acronym{PGP} format or @acronym{PGP/MIME} or @acronym{S/MIME}. For
13509 decoding such messages, see the @code{mm-verify-option} and
13510 @code{mm-decrypt-option} options (@pxref{Security}).
13512 @vindex gnus-message-replysign
13513 @vindex gnus-message-replyencrypt
13514 @vindex gnus-message-replysignencrypted
13515 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
13516 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
13517 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
13518 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
13519 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
13520 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
13521 automatically encrypted messages.
13523 Instructing @acronym{MML} to perform security operations on a
13524 @acronym{MIME} part is done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for
13525 signing and the @kbd{C-c C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
13530 @kindex C-c C-m s s (Message)
13531 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
13533 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
13536 @kindex C-c C-m s o (Message)
13537 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
13539 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP}.
13542 @kindex C-c C-m s p (Message)
13543 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
13545 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
13548 @kindex C-c C-m c s (Message)
13549 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
13551 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
13554 @kindex C-c C-m c o (Message)
13555 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
13557 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP}.
13560 @kindex C-c C-m c p (Message)
13561 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
13563 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
13566 @kindex C-c C-m C-n (Message)
13567 @findex mml-unsecure-message
13568 Remove security related @acronym{MML} tags from message.
13572 @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
13574 @node Select Methods
13575 @chapter Select Methods
13576 @cindex foreign groups
13577 @cindex select methods
13579 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
13580 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
13581 @acronym{NNTP} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
13582 personal mail group.
13584 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
13585 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
13586 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
13587 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
13588 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
13589 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
13591 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
13592 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
13594 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
13597 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @acronym{NNTP} server
13598 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
13599 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
13600 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
13601 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
13603 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
13606 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
13607 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
13608 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
13609 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
13610 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
13611 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
13612 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
13613 * Email Based Diary:: Using mails to manage diary events in Gnus.
13614 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
13618 @node Server Buffer
13619 @section Server Buffer
13621 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
13622 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
13623 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
13624 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
13625 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
13626 back end represents a virtual server.
13628 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
13629 different actual @acronym{NNTP} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
13630 on the same actual @acronym{NNTP} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
13631 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
13633 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
13634 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
13635 @acronym{NNTP} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
13636 hangs if queried for @acronym{NOV} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
13637 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
13638 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
13639 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
13641 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
13642 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
13645 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
13646 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
13647 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
13648 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
13649 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
13650 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
13651 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
13654 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
13655 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
13658 @node Server Buffer Format
13659 @subsection Server Buffer Format
13660 @cindex server buffer format
13662 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
13663 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
13664 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
13665 variable, with some simple extensions:
13670 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
13673 The name of this server.
13676 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
13679 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
13682 Whether this server is agentized.
13685 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
13686 The mode line can also be customized by using the
13687 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
13688 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
13698 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
13701 @node Server Commands
13702 @subsection Server Commands
13703 @cindex server commands
13709 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Server)
13710 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
13711 command or better use it as a prefix key.
13715 @findex gnus-server-add-server
13716 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
13720 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
13721 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
13724 @kindex SPACE (Server)
13725 @findex gnus-server-read-server
13726 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
13730 @findex gnus-server-exit
13731 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
13735 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
13736 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
13740 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
13741 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
13745 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
13746 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
13750 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
13751 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
13755 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
13756 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
13757 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
13762 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
13763 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
13764 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
13765 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
13769 @findex gnus-server-compact-server
13771 Compact all groups in the server under point
13772 (@code{gnus-server-compact-server}). Currently implemented only in
13773 nnml (@pxref{Mail Spool}). This removes gaps between article numbers,
13774 hence getting a correct total article count.
13779 @node Example Methods
13780 @subsection Example Methods
13782 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
13785 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
13788 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
13794 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
13795 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
13798 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
13799 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
13801 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
13802 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
13806 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
13809 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
13810 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
13812 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
13813 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
13814 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
13818 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
13821 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
13824 Here's the method for a public spool:
13828 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
13829 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
13835 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @acronym{NNTP}
13836 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
13837 on the firewall machine and connect with
13838 @uref{http://netcat.sourceforge.net/, netcat} from there to the
13839 @acronym{NNTP} server.
13840 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
13841 should probably look something like this:
13845 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat)
13846 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
13847 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host"))
13850 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
13851 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
13852 configuration to the example above:
13855 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
13858 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}. Here's an example for
13859 an indirect connection:
13862 (setq gnus-select-method
13864 (nntp-address "news.server.example")
13865 (nntp-via-user-name "intermediate_user_name")
13866 (nntp-via-address "intermediate.host.example")
13867 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
13868 (nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches ("-C"))
13869 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat)))
13872 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
13873 provide automatic authorization, of course.
13875 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
13876 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
13877 netcat connection to the news server as follows:
13881 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
13882 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-netcat-stream)
13883 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
13887 @node Creating a Virtual Server
13888 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
13890 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
13891 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
13893 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
13894 would probably be best to use @code{nnml} to read the cache. You
13895 could also use @code{nnspool} or @code{nnmh}, though.
13897 Type @kbd{a nnml RET cache RET}.
13899 You should now have a brand new @code{nnml} virtual server called
13900 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
13901 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
13902 will contain the following:
13912 (nnml-directory "~/News/cache/")
13913 (nnml-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
13916 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
13917 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
13918 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
13921 @node Server Variables
13922 @subsection Server Variables
13923 @cindex server variables
13924 @cindex server parameters
13926 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
13927 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
13928 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
13929 change the ``base'' variable after the variables have been loaded, you
13930 won't change the ``derived'' variables.
13932 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
13933 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
13934 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
13935 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
13936 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
13937 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
13938 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
13939 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
13940 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
13944 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
13945 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
13946 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
13949 Server variables are often called @dfn{server parameters}.
13951 @node Servers and Methods
13952 @subsection Servers and Methods
13954 Wherever you would normally use a select method
13955 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
13956 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
13957 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
13961 @node Unavailable Servers
13962 @subsection Unavailable Servers
13964 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
13965 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
13966 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
13967 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
13968 actually the case or not.
13970 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
13971 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
13972 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
13973 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
13974 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
13975 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
13976 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
13977 it will regard that server as ``down''.
13979 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
13980 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
13982 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
13983 with the following commands:
13989 @findex gnus-server-open-server
13990 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
13991 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
13995 @findex gnus-server-close-server
13996 Close the connection (if any) to the server
13997 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
14001 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
14002 Mark the current server as unreachable
14003 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
14006 @kindex M-o (Server)
14007 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
14008 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
14009 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
14012 @kindex M-c (Server)
14013 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
14014 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
14015 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
14019 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
14020 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
14021 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
14025 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
14026 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
14032 @section Getting News
14033 @cindex reading news
14034 @cindex news back ends
14036 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
14037 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @acronym{NNTP} server,
14038 or it can read from a local spool.
14041 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
14042 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
14050 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @acronym{NNTP} server is rather easy.
14051 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @acronym{NNTP}
14052 server as the, uhm, address.
14054 If the @acronym{NNTP} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
14055 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
14056 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
14057 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14059 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
14060 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
14061 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
14063 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
14068 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
14069 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
14070 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
14072 @cindex authentication
14073 @cindex nntp authentication
14074 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
14075 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
14076 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
14077 commands to the @acronym{NNTP} server after it has been contacted. By
14078 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
14079 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
14080 present in this hook.
14082 @item nntp-authinfo-function
14083 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
14084 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
14085 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
14086 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @acronym{NNTP}
14087 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
14088 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
14089 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
14090 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
14091 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
14092 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
14093 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
14097 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
14100 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
14102 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
14103 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
14104 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
14105 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
14106 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
14107 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
14108 @samp{force} is explained below.
14112 Here's an example file:
14115 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
14116 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
14119 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
14120 have to be first, for instance.
14122 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
14123 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
14124 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
14125 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
14126 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
14127 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
14128 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
14130 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
14131 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
14137 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
14138 previously mentioned.
14140 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
14142 @item nntp-server-action-alist
14143 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
14144 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
14145 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
14146 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
14149 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
14150 '(("innd" (ding))))
14153 You probably don't want to do that, though.
14155 The default value is
14158 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
14159 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
14160 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
14163 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
14164 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
14166 @item nntp-maximum-request
14167 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
14168 If the @acronym{NNTP} server doesn't support @acronym{NOV} headers, this back end
14169 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
14170 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
14171 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
14172 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
14173 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
14175 @item nntp-connection-timeout
14176 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
14177 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
14178 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @acronym{NNTP} servers not
14179 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
14180 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
14181 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
14182 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
14183 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
14184 no timeouts are done.
14186 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
14187 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
14188 If the @acronym{NNTP} server does not support @acronym{NOV}, you could set this
14189 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @acronym{NOV}
14192 @item nntp-xover-commands
14193 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
14194 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
14196 List of strings used as commands to fetch @acronym{NOV} lines from a
14197 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
14201 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
14202 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @acronym{NOV} lines to
14203 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
14204 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
14205 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @acronym{NOV}
14206 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
14207 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
14208 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
14209 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
14210 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
14211 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
14213 @item nntp-xref-number-is-evil
14214 @vindex nntp-xref-number-is-evil
14215 When Gnus refers to an article having the @code{Message-ID} that a user
14216 specifies or having the @code{Message-ID} of the parent article of the
14217 current one (@pxref{Finding the Parent}), Gnus sends a @code{HEAD}
14218 command to the @acronym{NNTP} server to know where it is, and the server
14219 returns the data containing the pairs of a group and an article number
14220 in the @code{Xref} header. Gnus normally uses the article number to
14221 refer to the article if the data shows that that article is in the
14222 current group, while it uses the @code{Message-ID} otherwise. However,
14223 some news servers, e.g., ones running Diablo, run multiple engines
14224 having the same articles but article numbers are not kept synchronized
14225 between them. In that case, the article number that appears in the
14226 @code{Xref} header varies by which engine is chosen, so you cannot refer
14227 to the parent article that is in the current group, for instance. If
14228 you connect to such a server, set this variable to a non-@code{nil}
14229 value, and Gnus never uses article numbers. For example:
14232 (setq gnus-select-method
14234 (nntp-address "newszilla.example.com")
14235 (nntp-xref-number-is-evil t)
14239 The default value of this server variable is @code{nil}.
14241 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
14242 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
14243 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @acronym{NNTP} server.
14245 @item nntp-record-commands
14246 @vindex nntp-record-commands
14247 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
14248 @acronym{NNTP} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
14249 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@acronym{NNTP} connection
14250 that doesn't seem to work.
14252 @item nntp-open-connection-function
14253 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
14254 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
14255 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
14256 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
14257 Seven pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped
14258 in two categories: direct connection functions (four pre-made), and
14259 indirect ones (three pre-made).
14261 @item nntp-never-echoes-commands
14262 @vindex nntp-never-echoes-commands
14263 Non-@code{nil} means the nntp server never echoes commands. It is
14264 reported that some nntps server doesn't echo commands. So, you may want
14265 to set this to non-@code{nil} in the method for such a server setting
14266 @code{nntp-open-connection-function} to @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream} for
14267 example. The default value is @code{nil}. Note that the
14268 @code{nntp-open-connection-functions-never-echo-commands} variable
14269 overrides the @code{nil} value of this variable.
14271 @item nntp-open-connection-functions-never-echo-commands
14272 @vindex nntp-open-connection-functions-never-echo-commands
14273 List of functions that never echo commands. Add or set a function which
14274 you set to @code{nntp-open-connection-function} to this list if it does
14275 not echo commands. Note that a non-@code{nil} value of the
14276 @code{nntp-never-echoes-commands} variable overrides this variable. The
14277 default value is @code{(nntp-open-network-stream)}.
14279 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
14280 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
14281 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
14282 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
14283 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
14284 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
14285 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
14288 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
14291 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
14292 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
14297 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
14298 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
14299 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
14300 * NNTP marks:: Storing marks for @acronym{NNTP} servers.
14304 @node Direct Functions
14305 @subsubsection Direct Functions
14306 @cindex direct connection functions
14308 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
14309 between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server. The behavior of these
14310 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
14311 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
14314 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
14315 @item nntp-open-network-stream
14316 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
14319 @findex nntp-open-tls-stream
14320 @item nntp-open-tls-stream
14321 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
14322 this you must have @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/, GNUTLS}
14323 installed. You then define a server as follows:
14326 ;; @r{"nntps" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
14327 ;; @r{however, @samp{gnutls-cli -p} doesn't like named ports.}
14329 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
14330 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-tls-stream)
14331 (nntp-port-number )
14332 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
14335 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
14336 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
14337 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
14338 this you must have @uref{http://www.openssl.org, OpenSSL} or
14339 @uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL, SSLeay} installed. You
14340 then define a server as follows:
14343 ;; @r{"snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
14344 ;; @r{however, @samp{openssl s_client -port} doesn't like named ports.}
14346 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
14347 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
14348 (nntp-port-number 563)
14349 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
14352 @findex nntp-open-netcat-stream
14353 @item nntp-open-netcat-stream
14354 Opens a connection to an @acronym{NNTP} server using the @code{netcat}
14355 program. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have
14356 the default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
14357 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
14358 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
14359 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
14363 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
14364 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-netcat-stream)
14365 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
14368 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
14369 session, which is not a good idea.
14371 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
14372 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
14373 Like @code{nntp-open-netcat-stream}, but uses @code{telnet} rather than
14374 @code{netcat}. @code{telnet} is a bit less robust because of things
14375 like line-end-conversion, but sometimes netcat is simply
14376 not available. The previous example would turn into:
14380 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
14381 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
14382 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
14383 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
14388 @node Indirect Functions
14389 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
14390 @cindex indirect connection functions
14392 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
14393 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
14394 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
14395 the ``via'' family of connection: they're all prefixed with ``via'' to make
14396 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
14397 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
14400 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat
14401 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat
14402 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then uses @code{netcat} to connect
14403 to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from there. This is useful for instance if
14404 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
14406 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat}-specific variables:
14409 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
14410 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
14411 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
14412 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
14414 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
14415 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
14416 List of strings to be used as the switches to
14417 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
14418 @samp{ssh} for @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}, you may set this to
14419 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections.
14422 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
14423 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
14424 Does essentially the same, but uses @code{telnet} instead of @samp{netcat}
14425 to connect to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from the intermediate host.
14426 @code{telnet} is a bit less robust because of things like
14427 line-end-conversion, but sometimes @code{netcat} is simply not available.
14429 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
14432 @item nntp-telnet-command
14433 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
14434 Command used to connect to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from the
14435 intermediate host. The default is @samp{telnet}.
14437 @item nntp-telnet-switches
14438 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
14439 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
14440 @code{nntp-telnet-command} command. The default is @code{("-8")}.
14442 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
14443 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
14444 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
14445 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
14447 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
14448 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
14449 List of strings to be used as the switches to
14450 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. If you use @samp{ssh}, you may need to set
14451 this to @samp{("-t" "-e" "none")} or @samp{("-C" "-t" "-e" "none")} if
14452 the telnet command requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate
14453 host. The default is @code{nil}.
14456 Note that you may want to change the value for @code{nntp-end-of-line}
14457 to @samp{\n} (@pxref{Common Variables}).
14459 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
14460 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
14461 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
14462 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
14464 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
14467 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
14468 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
14469 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
14472 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
14473 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
14474 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
14475 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
14477 @item nntp-via-user-password
14478 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
14479 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
14481 @item nntp-via-envuser
14482 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
14483 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
14484 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
14485 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
14487 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
14488 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
14489 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
14490 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
14494 Note that you may want to change the value for @code{nntp-end-of-line}
14495 to @samp{\n} (@pxref{Common Variables}).
14499 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
14504 @item nntp-via-user-name
14505 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
14506 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
14508 @item nntp-via-address
14509 @vindex nntp-via-address
14510 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
14515 @node Common Variables
14516 @subsubsection Common Variables
14518 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
14519 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
14520 affected (the values of the following variables will be used as the
14521 default if each virtual @code{nntp} server doesn't specify those server
14522 variables individually).
14526 @item nntp-pre-command
14527 @vindex nntp-pre-command
14528 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native
14529 connection function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream},
14530 @code{nntp-open-tls-stream}, and @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}). This is
14531 where you would put a @samp{SOCKS} wrapper for instance.
14534 @vindex nntp-address
14535 The address of the @acronym{NNTP} server.
14537 @item nntp-port-number
14538 @vindex nntp-port-number
14539 Port number to connect to the @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
14540 @samp{nntp}. If you use @acronym{NNTP} over
14541 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you may want to use integer ports rather
14542 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews} or
14543 @samp{nntps}), because external @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} tools may
14544 not work with named ports.
14546 @item nntp-end-of-line
14547 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
14548 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @acronym{NNTP}
14549 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
14550 using a non native telnet connection function.
14552 @item nntp-netcat-command
14553 @vindex nntp-netcat-command
14554 Command to use when connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server through
14555 @samp{netcat}. This is @emph{not} for an intermediate host. This is
14556 just for the real @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
14559 @item nntp-netcat-switches
14560 @vindex nntp-netcat-switches
14561 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-netcat-command}. The default
14567 @subsubsection NNTP marks
14568 @cindex storing NNTP marks
14570 Gnus stores marks (@pxref{Marking Articles}) for @acronym{NNTP}
14571 servers in marks files. A marks file records what marks you have set
14572 in a group and each file is specific to the corresponding server.
14573 Marks files are stored in @file{~/News/marks}
14574 (@code{nntp-marks-directory}) under a classic hierarchy resembling
14575 that of a news server, for example marks for the group
14576 @samp{gmane.discuss} on the news.gmane.org server will be stored in
14577 the file @file{~/News/marks/news.gmane.org/gmane/discuss/.marks}.
14579 Marks files are useful because you can copy the @file{~/News/marks}
14580 directory (using rsync, scp or whatever) to another Gnus installation,
14581 and it will realize what articles you have read and marked. The data
14582 in @file{~/News/marks} has priority over the same data in
14583 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
14585 Note that marks files are very much server-specific: Gnus remembers
14586 the article numbers so if you don't use the same servers on both
14587 installations things are most likely to break (most @acronym{NNTP}
14588 servers do not use the same article numbers as any other server).
14589 However, if you use servers A, B, C on one installation and servers A,
14590 D, E on the other, you can sync the marks files for A and then you'll
14591 get synchronization for that server between the two installations.
14593 Using @acronym{NNTP} marks can possibly incur a performance penalty so
14594 if Gnus feels sluggish, try setting the @code{nntp-marks-is-evil}
14595 variable to @code{t}. Marks will then be stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
14601 @item nntp-marks-is-evil
14602 @vindex nntp-marks-is-evil
14603 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any marks files. The
14604 default is @code{nil}.
14606 @item nntp-marks-directory
14607 @vindex nntp-marks-directory
14608 The directory where marks for nntp groups will be stored.
14614 @subsection News Spool
14618 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
14619 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
14620 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
14623 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
14624 anything else) as the address.
14626 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
14627 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
14628 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
14629 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
14633 @item nnspool-inews-program
14634 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
14635 Program used to post an article.
14637 @item nnspool-inews-switches
14638 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
14639 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
14641 @item nnspool-spool-directory
14642 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
14643 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
14644 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
14646 @item nnspool-nov-directory
14647 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
14648 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @acronym{NOV} files. This is normally@*
14649 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
14651 @item nnspool-lib-dir
14652 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
14653 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
14655 @item nnspool-active-file
14656 @vindex nnspool-active-file
14657 The name of the active file.
14659 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
14660 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
14661 The name of the group descriptions file.
14663 @item nnspool-history-file
14664 @vindex nnspool-history-file
14665 The name of the news history file.
14667 @item nnspool-active-times-file
14668 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
14669 The name of the active date file.
14671 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
14672 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
14673 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @acronym{NOV} files
14676 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
14677 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
14679 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
14680 relevant portion from the overview file. If @code{nil},
14681 @code{nnspool} will load the entire file into a buffer and process it
14688 @section Getting Mail
14689 @cindex reading mail
14692 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
14696 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
14697 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
14698 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
14699 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
14700 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
14701 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
14702 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
14703 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
14704 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
14705 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
14706 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
14707 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
14708 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
14712 @node Mail in a Newsreader
14713 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
14715 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
14716 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
14717 of a culture shock.
14719 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
14720 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
14722 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
14723 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
14724 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
14725 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
14727 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
14729 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
14730 deleted? How awful!
14732 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
14733 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
14734 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
14735 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @ref{Expiring
14738 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
14739 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
14740 they want to treat a message.
14742 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
14743 via @acronym{SMTP}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
14744 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
14745 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
14746 archived somewhere else.
14748 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
14749 These are transported via @acronym{NNTP}, and are therefore news. But we may need
14750 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
14751 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
14752 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
14754 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
14755 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
14756 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
14758 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
14759 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
14762 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
14763 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
14764 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
14765 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
14766 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
14768 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
14769 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
14770 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
14771 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
14772 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
14773 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
14777 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
14778 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
14780 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
14781 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
14782 and things will happen automatically.
14784 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a ``one file per
14785 mail'' back end), you could put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
14788 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
14791 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
14792 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
14793 directory, which is @file{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
14794 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
14795 like any other group.
14797 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
14800 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14801 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14802 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
14806 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
14807 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
14808 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
14811 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
14812 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
14813 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
14816 @node Splitting Mail
14817 @subsection Splitting Mail
14818 @cindex splitting mail
14819 @cindex mail splitting
14820 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
14822 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
14823 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
14824 to be split into groups.
14827 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14828 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14829 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
14830 ("mail.other" "")))
14833 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
14834 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
14835 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
14836 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
14837 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
14838 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
14839 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
14842 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
14846 In that case, @code{nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded} controls whether
14847 the inserted text should be made lowercase. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
14849 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
14850 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
14851 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
14852 mail belongs in that group.
14854 @cindex @samp{bogus} group
14855 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
14856 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{""} so that it matches any mails
14857 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
14858 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first rule
14859 to make a match will ``win'', unless you have crossposting enabled. In
14860 that case, all matching rules will ``win''.) If no rule matched, the mail
14861 will end up in the @samp{bogus} group. When new groups are created by
14862 splitting mail, you may want to run @code{gnus-group-find-new-groups} to
14863 see the new groups. This also applies to the @samp{bogus} group.
14865 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
14866 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
14867 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
14868 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
14869 thinks should carry this mail message.
14871 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
14872 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
14873 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
14874 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
14876 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
14877 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
14878 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
14879 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
14880 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{""}) group.
14882 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
14885 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
14886 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
14887 links. If that's the case for you, set
14888 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
14889 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
14891 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
14892 @findex nnmail-split-history
14893 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
14894 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
14895 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
14896 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
14899 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
14900 Header lines longer than the value of
14901 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
14904 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
14905 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
14906 By default, splitting does not decode headers, so you can not match on
14907 non-@acronym{ASCII} strings. But it is useful if you want to match
14908 articles based on the raw header data. To enable it, set the
14909 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} variable to a non-@code{nil} value.
14910 In addition, the value of the @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset}
14911 variable is used for decoding non-@acronym{MIME} encoded string when
14912 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} is non-@code{nil}. The default
14913 value is @code{nil} which means not to decode non-@acronym{MIME} encoded
14914 string. A suitable value for you will be @code{undecided} or be the
14915 charset used normally in mails you are interested in.
14917 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
14918 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If you
14919 specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable @code{mail-sources}
14920 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}), however, then splitting does
14921 @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
14922 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-@code{nil} value to make
14923 splitting happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on
14924 other kinds of entries.)
14926 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
14927 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
14928 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
14929 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
14930 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
14931 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
14932 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
14933 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
14934 month's rent money.
14938 @subsection Mail Sources
14940 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from
14941 a @acronym{POP} mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a
14942 maildir, for instance.
14945 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
14946 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
14947 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
14951 @node Mail Source Specifiers
14952 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
14954 @cindex mail server
14957 @cindex mail source
14959 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
14960 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
14965 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
14968 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
14969 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
14970 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
14973 The @code{mail-sources} is global for all mail groups. You can specify
14974 an additional mail source for a particular group by including the
14975 @code{group} mail specifier in @code{mail-sources}, and setting a
14976 @code{mail-source} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) specifying
14977 a single mail source. When this is used, @code{mail-sources} is
14978 typically just @code{(group)}; the @code{mail-source} parameter for a
14979 group might look like this:
14982 (mail-source . (file :path "home/user/spools/foo.spool"))
14985 This means that the group's (and only this group's) messages will be
14986 fetched from the spool file @samp{/user/spools/foo.spool}.
14988 The following mail source types are available:
14992 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
14998 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @env{MAIL}
14999 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
15000 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
15004 Script run before/after fetching mail.
15007 An example file mail source:
15010 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
15013 Or using the default file name:
15019 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best
15020 to use @acronym{POP} or @acronym{IMAP} or the like to fetch the mail.
15021 You can not use ange-ftp file names here---it has no way to lock the
15022 mail spool while moving the mail.
15024 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
15028 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
15031 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
15035 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
15038 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
15040 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
15043 Alter this script to fit the @samp{movemail} and temporary
15044 file you want to use.
15048 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
15049 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
15050 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
15051 That is, there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that
15052 directory and groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool}
15053 will be put in the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix
15054 to be used instead of @code{.spool}.) Setting
15055 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-@code{nil} forces
15056 Gnus to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful
15057 if you want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
15059 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
15060 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
15061 that to a non-@code{nil} value, then the normal splitting process is
15062 applied to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
15068 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
15072 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
15076 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
15077 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
15078 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
15079 predicate are considered.
15083 Script run before/after fetching mail.
15087 An example directory mail source:
15090 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
15095 Get mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
15101 The name of the @acronym{POP} server. The default is taken from the
15102 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
15105 The port number of the @acronym{POP} server. This can be a number (eg,
15106 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
15107 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
15108 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
15109 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
15112 The user name to give to the @acronym{POP} server. The default is the login
15116 The password to give to the @acronym{POP} server. If not specified,
15117 the user is prompted.
15120 The program to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. This
15121 should be a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
15124 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
15127 The valid format specifier characters are:
15131 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
15132 included in this string.
15135 The name of the server.
15138 The port number of the server.
15141 The user name to use.
15144 The password to use.
15147 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
15148 corresponding keywords.
15151 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
15152 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
15155 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
15156 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
15159 The function to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. The
15160 function is called with one parameter---the name of the file where the
15161 mail should be moved to.
15163 @item :authentication
15164 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
15165 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
15170 @vindex pop3-movemail
15171 @vindex pop3-leave-mail-on-server
15172 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
15173 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used. If @code{pop3-leave-mail-on-server}
15174 is non-@code{nil} the mail is to be left on the @acronym{POP} server
15175 after fetching when using @code{pop3-movemail}. Note that POP servers
15176 maintain no state information between sessions, so what the client
15177 believes is there and what is actually there may not match up. If they
15178 do not, then you may get duplicate mails or the whole thing can fall
15179 apart and leave you with a corrupt mailbox.
15181 Here are some examples for getting mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
15182 Fetch from the default @acronym{POP} server, using the default user
15183 name, and default fetcher:
15189 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
15192 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
15193 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
15196 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
15199 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
15203 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
15204 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
15205 contains exactly one mail.
15211 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
15212 taken from the @env{MAILDIR} environment variable or
15215 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
15216 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
15218 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
15219 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
15220 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
15223 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
15224 from locking problems).
15228 Two example maildir mail sources:
15231 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
15232 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
15236 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
15241 Get mail from a @acronym{IMAP} server. If you don't want to use
15242 @acronym{IMAP} as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie
15243 with nnimap), for some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar
15244 to a @acronym{POP} server and fetches articles from a given
15245 @acronym{IMAP} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for more information.
15247 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} and STARTTLS support you
15248 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
15254 The name of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is taken from the
15255 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
15258 The port number of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
15259 @samp{993} for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} connections.
15262 The user name to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is the login
15266 The password to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. If not specified, the user is
15270 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
15271 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
15272 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{tls},
15273 @samp{ssl}, @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
15275 @item :authentication
15276 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
15277 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
15278 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
15279 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
15282 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
15283 mapped into the @code{imap-shell-program} variable. This should be a
15284 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
15290 Make sure nothing is interfering with the output of the program, e.g.,
15291 don't forget to redirect the error output to the void. The valid format
15292 specifier characters are:
15296 The name of the server.
15299 User name from @code{imap-default-user}.
15302 The port number of the server.
15305 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
15306 corresponding keywords.
15309 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
15310 which normally is the mailbox which receives incoming mail.
15313 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
15314 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
15315 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @acronym{IMAP} client and mark some
15316 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
15317 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
15318 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
15321 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
15322 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
15323 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
15324 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
15327 If non-@code{nil}, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the
15328 mailbox after finishing the fetch.
15332 An example @acronym{IMAP} mail source:
15335 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
15337 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
15341 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{http://www.hotmail.com/},
15342 @uref{http://webmail.netscape.com/}, @uref{http://www.netaddress.com/},
15343 @uref{http://mail.yahoo.com/}.
15345 NOTE: Webmail largely depends on cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
15346 required for url "4.0pre.46".
15348 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
15354 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
15355 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
15358 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
15362 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
15366 If non-@code{nil}, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to
15367 trash folder after finishing the fetch.
15371 An example webmail source:
15374 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
15376 :password "secret")
15380 Get the actual mail source from the @code{mail-source} group parameter,
15381 @xref{Group Parameters}.
15386 @item Common Keywords
15387 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
15393 If non-@code{nil}, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you
15394 use directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this
15399 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
15404 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
15405 useful when you use local mail and news.
15410 @subsubsection Function Interface
15412 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
15413 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
15414 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
15415 consider the following mail-source setting:
15418 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
15419 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
15422 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
15423 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
15424 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
15425 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
15426 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
15428 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
15431 @node Mail Source Customization
15432 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
15434 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
15435 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
15439 @item mail-source-crash-box
15440 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
15441 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is@*
15442 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
15445 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
15446 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
15447 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them. If
15448 @code{t}, delete the files immediately, if @code{nil}, never delete any
15449 files. If a positive number, delete files older than number of days
15450 (the deletion will only happen when receiving new mail). You may also
15451 set @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} to @code{nil} and call
15452 @code{mail-source-delete-old-incoming} from a hook or interactively.
15453 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{10} in alpha Gnusae
15454 and @code{2} in released Gnusae. @xref{Gnus Development}.
15456 @item mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
15457 @vindex mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
15458 If non-@code{nil}, ask for confirmation before deleting old incoming
15459 files. This variable only applies when
15460 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is a positive number.
15462 @item mail-source-ignore-errors
15463 @vindex mail-source-ignore-errors
15464 If non-@code{nil}, ignore errors when reading mail from a mail source.
15466 @item mail-source-directory
15467 @vindex mail-source-directory
15468 Directory where incoming mail source files (if any) will be stored. The
15469 default is @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for
15470 is to say where the incoming files will be stored if the variable
15471 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil} or a number.
15473 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
15474 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
15475 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
15476 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
15477 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
15478 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil} or a
15481 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
15482 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
15483 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
15485 @item mail-source-movemail-program
15486 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
15487 If non-@code{nil}, name of program for fetching new mail. If
15488 @code{nil}, @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
15493 @node Fetching Mail
15494 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
15496 @vindex mail-sources
15497 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
15498 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
15499 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
15501 If this variable is @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to
15502 fetch mail by themselves.
15504 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a
15505 @acronym{POP} mail server, you'd say something like:
15510 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
15511 :password "secret")))
15514 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
15518 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
15519 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
15522 :password "secret")))
15526 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
15527 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
15528 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
15529 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
15530 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
15531 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
15535 @node Mail Back End Variables
15536 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
15538 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
15542 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
15543 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
15544 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
15545 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
15547 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
15548 @item nnmail-split-hook
15549 @findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
15550 @cindex RFC 1522 decoding
15551 @cindex RFC 2047 decoding
15552 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
15553 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
15554 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
15555 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
15556 in the buffer will show up in any files.
15557 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
15560 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
15561 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
15562 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
15563 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
15564 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
15565 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
15566 starting to handle the new mail) and
15567 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
15568 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
15569 default file modes the new mail files get:
15572 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
15573 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
15575 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
15576 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
15579 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
15580 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
15581 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
15582 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
15583 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
15584 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
15585 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
15587 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
15588 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
15589 @findex delete-file
15590 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
15592 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
15593 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
15594 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
15595 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
15596 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
15598 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
15599 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
15600 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
15601 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
15602 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
15604 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
15605 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
15606 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
15611 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
15612 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
15613 @cindex mail splitting
15614 @cindex fancy mail splitting
15616 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
15617 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
15618 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
15619 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
15620 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
15621 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
15623 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
15626 ;; @r{Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of}
15627 ;; @r{the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group}
15628 ;; @r{from real errors.}
15629 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
15631 ;; @r{Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant}
15632 ;; @r{groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the}
15633 ;; @r{(ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.}
15634 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
15635 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
15636 ;; @r{Other mailing lists@dots{}}
15637 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
15638 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
15639 ;; @r{Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent}
15640 ;; @r{cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to}
15641 ;; @r{the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the}
15642 ;; @r{message was really cross-posted.}
15643 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
15644 (any "mypackage@@somewhere" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
15645 ;; @r{People@dots{}}
15646 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
15647 ;; @r{Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.}
15651 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a
15652 (possibly) recursive structure where each split may contain other
15653 splits. Here are the possible split syntaxes:
15658 If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name. Normal
15659 regexp match expansion will be done. See below for examples.
15661 @c Don't fold this line.
15662 @item (@var{field} @var{value} [- @var{restrict} [@dots{}] ] @var{split} [@var{invert-partial}])
15663 The split can be a list containing at least three elements. If the
15664 first element @var{field} (a regexp matching a header) contains
15665 @var{value} (also a regexp) then store the message as specified by
15668 If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp) matches some string after
15669 @var{field} and before the end of the matched @var{value}, the
15670 @var{split} is ignored. If none of the @var{restrict} clauses match,
15671 @var{split} is processed.
15673 The last element @var{invert-partial} is optional. If it is
15674 non-@code{nil}, the match-partial-words behavior controlled by the
15675 variable @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} (see below) is
15676 be inverted. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
15678 @item (| @var{split} @dots{})
15679 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{|} (vertical
15680 bar), then process each @var{split} until one of them matches. A
15681 @var{split} is said to match if it will cause the mail message to be
15682 stored in one or more groups.
15684 @item (& @var{split} @dots{})
15685 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{&}, then
15686 process all @var{split}s in the list.
15689 If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save (i.e., delete)
15690 this message. Use with extreme caution.
15692 @item (: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})
15693 If the split is a list, and the first element is @samp{:}, then the
15694 second element will be called as a function with @var{args} given as
15695 arguments. The function should return a @var{split}.
15698 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
15699 body of the messages:
15702 (defun split-on-body ()
15706 (goto-char (point-min))
15707 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
15711 The buffer is narrowed to the header of the message in question when
15712 @var{function} is run. That's why @code{(widen)} needs to be called
15713 after @code{save-excursion} and @code{save-restriction} in the example
15714 above. Also note that with the nnimap backend, message bodies will
15715 not be downloaded by default. You need to set
15716 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
15717 (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}).
15719 @item (! @var{func} @var{split})
15720 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{!}, then
15721 @var{split} will be processed, and @var{func} will be called as a
15722 function with the result of @var{split} as argument. @var{func}
15723 should return a split.
15726 If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
15730 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
15732 Normally, @var{value} in these splits must match a complete @emph{word}
15733 according to the fundamental mode syntax table. In other words, all
15734 @var{value}'s will be implicitly surrounded by @code{\<...\>} markers,
15735 which are word delimiters. Therefore, if you use the following split,
15739 (any "joe" "joemail")
15743 messages sent from @samp{joedavis@@foo.org} will normally not be filed
15744 in @samp{joemail}. If you want to alter this behavior, you can use any
15745 of the following three ways:
15749 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words
15750 You can set the @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} variable
15751 to non-@code{nil} in order to ignore word boundaries and instead the
15752 match becomes more like a grep. This variable controls whether partial
15753 words are matched during fancy splitting. The default value is
15756 Note that it influences all @var{value}'s in your split rules.
15759 @var{value} beginning with @code{.*} ignores word boundaries in front of
15760 a word. Similarly, if @var{value} ends with @code{.*}, word boundaries
15761 in the rear of a word will be ignored. For example, the @var{value}
15762 @code{"@@example\\.com"} does not match @samp{foo@@example.com} but
15763 @code{".*@@example\\.com"} does.
15766 You can set the @var{invert-partial} flag in your split rules of the
15767 @samp{(@var{field} @var{value} @dots{})} types, aforementioned in this
15768 section. If the flag is set, word boundaries on both sides of a word
15769 are ignored even if @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} is
15770 @code{nil}. Contrarily, if the flag is set, word boundaries are not
15771 ignored even if @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} is
15772 non-@code{nil}. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
15775 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
15776 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be Lisp symbols, in that case
15777 they are expanded as specified by the variable
15778 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells,
15779 where the @sc{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @sc{cdr}
15780 contains the associated value. Predefined entries in
15781 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist} include:
15785 Matches the @samp{From}, @samp{Sender} and @samp{Resent-From} fields.
15787 Matches the @samp{To}, @samp{Cc}, @samp{Apparently-To},
15788 @samp{Resent-To} and @samp{Resent-Cc} fields.
15790 Is the union of the @code{from} and @code{to} entries.
15793 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
15794 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
15795 when all this splitting is performed.
15797 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
15798 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
15799 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
15802 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
15805 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
15806 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
15808 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
15809 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
15810 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
15811 groupings 1 through 9.
15813 @vindex nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded
15814 Where @code{nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded} controls whether the
15815 lowercase of the matched string should be used for the substitution.
15816 Setting it as non-@code{nil} is useful to avoid the creation of multiple
15817 groups when users send to an address using different case
15818 (i.e. mailing-list@@domain vs Mailing-List@@Domain). The default value
15821 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
15822 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
15823 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
15824 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
15825 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
15826 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
15827 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
15828 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
15829 it once per thread.
15831 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates}
15832 and @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-@code{nil}
15833 value. And then you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}
15834 using the colon feature, like so:
15836 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; @r{or @code{delete}}
15837 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
15839 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
15840 ;; @r{other splits go here}
15844 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
15845 non-@code{nil}, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees
15846 in the file specified by the variable
15847 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, together with the group it is in
15848 (the group is omitted for non-mail messages). When mail splitting is
15849 invoked, the function @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks
15850 at the References (and In-Reply-To) header of each message to split
15851 and searches the file specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}
15852 for the message ids. When it has found a parent, it returns the
15853 corresponding group name unless the group name matches the regexp
15854 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is
15855 recommended that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a
15856 somewhat higher number than the default so that the message ids are
15857 still in the cache. (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some
15858 300 kBytes in size.)
15859 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
15860 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
15861 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
15862 messages goes into the new group.
15864 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
15865 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
15866 outgoing messages are written to an ``outgoing'' group, you could set
15867 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
15868 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
15869 ``outgoing'' group.
15872 @node Group Mail Splitting
15873 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
15874 @cindex mail splitting
15875 @cindex group mail splitting
15877 @findex gnus-group-split
15878 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
15879 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
15880 You just have to set @code{to-list} and/or @code{to-address} in group
15881 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
15882 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
15883 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
15884 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @code{to-list} or
15885 @code{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
15887 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
15888 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @code{extra-aliases} group
15889 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
15890 rather use a regular expression, set @code{split-regexp}.
15892 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
15893 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
15894 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
15895 @code{to-list}, @code{to-address}, all of @code{extra-aliases} and all
15896 matches of @code{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
15897 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
15898 @code{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
15900 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
15901 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
15902 parameter @code{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
15903 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
15904 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @code{split-spec} may be set to
15905 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
15906 @code{gnus-group-split}.
15908 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
15909 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
15910 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
15911 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
15912 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
15913 some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
15914 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
15915 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
15916 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
15917 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
15918 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
15919 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
15920 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
15922 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
15927 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
15928 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
15930 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
15931 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
15932 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
15933 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
15935 ((split-spec . catch-all))
15938 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
15939 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
15940 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
15943 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
15944 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
15945 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
15949 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
15950 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
15951 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
15955 (: gnus-group-split-fancy @var{groups} @var{no-crosspost} @var{catch-all})
15958 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
15959 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
15960 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
15961 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fall back
15962 fancy split, used like @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
15963 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @code{split-regexp} matches the
15964 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
15965 Otherwise, if some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
15966 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
15968 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
15969 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
15970 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
15971 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
15972 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
15973 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
15974 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
15975 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
15976 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
15978 @findex gnus-group-split-update
15979 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
15980 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
15981 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
15982 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
15983 you. For example, add to your @file{~/.gnus.el}:
15986 (gnus-group-split-setup @var{auto-update} @var{catch-all})
15989 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
15990 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
15991 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
15992 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
15993 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
15996 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
15997 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
15998 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
15999 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
16001 @node Incorporating Old Mail
16002 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
16003 @cindex incorporating old mail
16004 @cindex import old mail
16006 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
16007 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
16008 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
16011 Doing so can be quite easy.
16013 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
16014 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
16015 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
16016 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
16017 your @code{nnml} groups.
16023 Go to the group buffer.
16026 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
16027 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
16030 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
16033 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
16034 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
16037 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
16038 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
16041 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
16042 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
16043 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
16044 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
16045 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
16047 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
16048 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
16049 using the new mail back end.
16052 @node Expiring Mail
16053 @subsection Expiring Mail
16054 @cindex article expiry
16055 @cindex expiring mail
16057 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
16058 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
16059 different approach to mail reading.
16061 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
16062 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
16063 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
16064 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
16065 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
16066 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
16069 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
16070 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default key bindings, this means
16071 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
16072 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
16073 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
16074 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
16075 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
16076 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
16077 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
16079 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
16080 two features, called ``auto-expire'' and ``total-expire'', that can help you
16081 with this. In a nutshell, ``auto-expire'' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
16082 for you when you select an article. And ``total-expire'' means that Gnus
16083 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
16084 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
16085 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
16088 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
16089 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
16090 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
16091 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
16092 into its own group.)
16094 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
16095 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
16096 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
16097 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
16098 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
16099 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
16100 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive
16101 Scoring}). Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
16104 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
16105 Groups that match the regular expression
16106 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
16107 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
16108 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
16110 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
16111 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
16112 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
16113 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
16114 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
16116 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
16118 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
16119 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
16120 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
16123 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
16124 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
16125 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
16126 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
16127 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
16129 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
16130 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
16133 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
16134 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
16137 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
16138 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
16140 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
16141 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
16142 don't really mix very well.
16144 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
16145 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
16146 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
16147 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
16150 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
16151 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
16152 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
16153 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
16156 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
16158 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
16160 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
16162 ((string= group "mail.junk")
16164 ((string= group "important")
16170 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
16171 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
16173 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
16174 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
16175 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
16178 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
16179 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
16181 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
16182 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
16183 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
16184 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
16185 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
16186 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
16187 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
16188 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
16189 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
16190 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
16191 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
16192 from as its parameter) which should return a target---either a group
16193 name or @code{delete}.
16195 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
16197 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
16200 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
16201 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
16202 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
16203 expire mail to groups according to the variable
16204 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
16207 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
16208 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
16209 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
16210 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
16211 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
16214 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
16215 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
16216 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
16217 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
16218 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
16219 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
16221 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
16222 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
16223 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
16224 easier for procmail users.
16226 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
16227 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
16228 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
16229 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
16230 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
16231 caution. Even more dangerous is the
16232 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
16233 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
16234 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
16235 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
16236 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
16237 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
16238 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
16241 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
16243 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
16244 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
16245 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
16246 auto-expire turned on.
16250 @subsection Washing Mail
16251 @cindex mail washing
16252 @cindex list server brain damage
16253 @cindex incoming mail treatment
16255 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
16256 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
16257 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
16258 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
16259 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
16260 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
16262 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
16263 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
16264 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
16267 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
16268 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
16269 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
16270 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
16273 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
16274 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
16275 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
16276 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
16277 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
16280 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
16281 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
16282 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
16283 Emacs running on MS machines.
16287 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
16288 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
16289 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
16290 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
16293 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
16294 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
16295 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
16296 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
16298 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
16299 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
16300 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
16301 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
16302 into a feature by documenting it.)
16304 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
16305 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
16306 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
16307 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
16308 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
16309 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
16310 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
16313 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
16314 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
16317 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
16318 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
16321 This can also be done non-destructively with
16322 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
16324 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
16325 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
16326 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
16328 @item nnmail-ignore-broken-references
16329 @findex nnmail-ignore-broken-references
16330 @c @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
16333 Some mail user agents (e.g. Eudora and Pegasus) produce broken
16334 @code{References} headers, but correct @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This
16335 function will get rid of the @code{References} header if the headers
16336 contain a line matching the regular expression
16337 @code{nnmail-broken-references-mailers}.
16341 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
16342 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
16343 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
16347 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
16348 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
16349 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
16356 @subsection Duplicates
16358 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
16359 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
16360 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
16361 @cindex duplicate mails
16362 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
16363 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
16364 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
16365 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
16366 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
16367 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
16368 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
16369 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
16370 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
16371 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
16372 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
16373 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
16374 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
16376 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
16377 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
16378 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
16379 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
16381 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
16384 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
16385 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
16389 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
16390 '(| ;; @r{Messages duplicates go to a separate group.}
16391 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
16392 ;; @r{Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.}
16393 (any mail "mail.misc")
16394 ;; @r{Other rules.}
16400 (setq nnmail-split-methods
16401 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
16402 ;; @r{Other rules.}
16406 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
16407 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
16408 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
16409 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
16410 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
16413 @node Not Reading Mail
16414 @subsection Not Reading Mail
16416 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
16417 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
16418 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
16420 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
16421 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
16422 mail, which should help.
16424 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
16425 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
16426 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
16427 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
16428 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
16429 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
16430 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old Rmail
16431 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
16432 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
16433 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
16434 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
16436 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
16437 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
16441 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
16442 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
16444 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
16445 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
16446 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
16448 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
16449 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
16450 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
16454 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
16455 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
16456 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
16457 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
16458 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
16459 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
16460 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
16464 @node Unix Mail Box
16465 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
16467 @cindex unix mail box
16469 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
16470 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
16471 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
16472 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
16473 which group it belongs in.
16475 Virtual server settings:
16478 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
16479 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
16480 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
16483 @item nnmbox-active-file
16484 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
16485 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
16486 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
16488 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
16489 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
16490 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
16491 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
16496 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
16500 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
16501 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
16502 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a Babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{Rmail
16503 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
16504 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
16506 Virtual server settings:
16509 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
16510 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
16511 The name of the Rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
16513 @item nnbabyl-active-file
16514 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
16515 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
16516 @file{~/.rmail-active}
16518 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
16519 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
16520 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
16526 @subsubsection Mail Spool
16528 @cindex mail @acronym{NOV} spool
16530 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
16531 format. It should be used with some caution.
16533 @vindex nnml-directory
16534 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
16535 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
16536 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
16537 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
16539 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
16542 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
16543 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
16544 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
16545 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
16546 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
16547 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
16548 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
16549 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
16551 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
16552 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
16553 @acronym{NOV} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
16554 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
16556 @cindex self contained nnml servers
16558 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
16559 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
16560 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
16561 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
16562 for a group are usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
16563 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
16564 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
16565 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
16568 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
16569 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
16570 them next time it starts.
16572 Virtual server settings:
16575 @item nnml-directory
16576 @vindex nnml-directory
16577 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory. The
16578 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default value
16581 @item nnml-active-file
16582 @vindex nnml-active-file
16583 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
16584 @file{~/Mail/active}.
16586 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
16587 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
16588 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
16589 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}.
16591 @item nnml-get-new-mail
16592 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
16593 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
16596 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
16597 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
16598 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
16599 default is @code{nil}.
16601 @item nnml-nov-file-name
16602 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
16603 The name of the @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
16605 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
16606 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
16607 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
16609 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
16610 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
16611 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
16612 default is @code{nil}.
16614 @item nnml-marks-file-name
16615 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
16616 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
16618 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
16619 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
16620 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
16621 files. This requires @code{auto-compression-mode} to be enabled
16622 (@pxref{Compressed Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
16623 If the value of @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is a string, it is used
16624 as the file extension specifying the compression program. You can set it
16625 to @samp{.bz2} if your Emacs supports it. A value of @code{t} is
16626 equivalent to @samp{.gz}.
16628 @item nnml-compressed-files-size-threshold
16629 @vindex nnml-compressed-files-size-threshold
16630 Default size threshold for compressed message files. Message files with
16631 bodies larger than that many characters will be automatically compressed
16632 if @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil}.
16636 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
16637 If your @code{nnml} groups and @acronym{NOV} files get totally out of
16638 whack, you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
16639 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
16640 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
16641 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
16642 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
16647 @subsubsection MH Spool
16649 @cindex mh-e mail spool
16651 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
16652 @acronym{NOV} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks
16653 file. This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than
16654 @code{nnml}, but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts
16657 Virtual server settings:
16660 @item nnmh-directory
16661 @vindex nnmh-directory
16662 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
16663 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
16666 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
16667 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
16668 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
16672 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
16673 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
16674 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks
16675 they are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
16676 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
16677 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not
16678 have to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
16683 @subsubsection Maildir
16687 @code{nnmaildir} stores mail in the maildir format, with each maildir
16688 corresponding to a group in Gnus. This format is documented here:
16689 @uref{http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html} and here:
16690 @uref{http://www.qmail.org/man/man5/maildir.html}. @code{nnmaildir}
16691 also stores extra information in the @file{.nnmaildir/} directory
16694 Maildir format was designed to allow concurrent deliveries and
16695 reading, without needing locks. With other back ends, you would have
16696 your mail delivered to a spool of some kind, and then you would
16697 configure Gnus to split mail from that spool into your groups. You
16698 can still do that with @code{nnmaildir}, but the more common
16699 configuration is to have your mail delivered directly to the maildirs
16700 that appear as group in Gnus.
16702 @code{nnmaildir} is designed to be perfectly reliable: @kbd{C-g} will
16703 never corrupt its data in memory, and @code{SIGKILL} will never
16704 corrupt its data in the filesystem.
16706 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks and @acronym{NOV} data in each
16707 maildir. So you can copy a whole maildir from one Gnus setup to
16708 another, and you will keep your marks.
16710 Virtual server settings:
16714 For each of your @code{nnmaildir} servers (it's very unlikely that
16715 you'd need more than one), you need to create a directory and populate
16716 it with maildirs or symlinks to maildirs (and nothing else; do not
16717 choose a directory already used for other purposes). Each maildir
16718 will be represented in Gnus as a newsgroup on that server; the
16719 filename of the symlink will be the name of the group. Any filenames
16720 in the directory starting with @samp{.} are ignored. The directory is
16721 scanned when you first start Gnus, and each time you type @kbd{g} in
16722 the group buffer; if any maildirs have been removed or added,
16723 @code{nnmaildir} notices at these times.
16725 The value of the @code{directory} parameter should be a Lisp form
16726 which is processed by @code{eval} and @code{expand-file-name} to get
16727 the path of the directory for this server. The form is @code{eval}ed
16728 only when the server is opened; the resulting string is used until the
16729 server is closed. (If you don't know about forms and @code{eval},
16730 don't worry---a simple string will work.) This parameter is not
16731 optional; you must specify it. I don't recommend using
16732 @code{"~/Mail"} or a subdirectory of it; several other parts of Gnus
16733 use that directory by default for various things, and may get confused
16734 if @code{nnmaildir} uses it too. @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} is a typical
16737 @item target-prefix
16738 This should be a Lisp form which is processed by @code{eval} and
16739 @code{expand-file-name}. The form is @code{eval}ed only when the
16740 server is opened; the resulting string is used until the server is
16743 When you create a group on an @code{nnmaildir} server, the maildir is
16744 created with @code{target-prefix} prepended to its name, and a symlink
16745 pointing to that maildir is created, named with the plain group name.
16746 So if @code{directory} is @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} and
16747 @code{target-prefix} is @code{"../maildirs/"}, then when you create
16748 the group @code{foo}, @code{nnmaildir} will create
16749 @file{~/.nnmaildir/../maildirs/foo} as a maildir, and will create
16750 @file{~/.nnmaildir/foo} as a symlink pointing to
16751 @file{../maildirs/foo}.
16753 You can set @code{target-prefix} to a string without any slashes to
16754 create both maildirs and symlinks in the same @code{directory}; in
16755 this case, any maildirs found in @code{directory} whose names start
16756 with @code{target-prefix} will not be listed as groups (but the
16757 symlinks pointing to them will be).
16759 As a special case, if @code{target-prefix} is @code{""} (the default),
16760 then when you create a group, the maildir will be created in
16761 @code{directory} without a corresponding symlink. Beware that you
16762 cannot use @code{gnus-group-delete-group} on such groups without the
16763 @code{force} argument.
16765 @item directory-files
16766 This should be a function with the same interface as
16767 @code{directory-files} (such as @code{directory-files} itself). It is
16768 used to scan the server's @code{directory} for maildirs. This
16769 parameter is optional; the default is
16770 @code{nnheader-directory-files-safe} if
16771 @code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is @code{nil}, and
16772 @code{directory-files} otherwise.
16773 (@code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is checked only once when the
16774 server is opened; if you want to check it each time the directory is
16775 scanned, you'll have to provide your own function that does that.)
16778 If non-@code{nil}, then after scanning for new mail in the group
16779 maildirs themselves as usual, this server will also incorporate mail
16780 the conventional Gnus way, from @code{mail-sources} according to
16781 @code{nnmail-split-methods} or @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. The default
16782 value is @code{nil}.
16784 Do @emph{not} use the same maildir both in @code{mail-sources} and as
16785 an @code{nnmaildir} group. The results might happen to be useful, but
16786 that would be by chance, not by design, and the results might be
16787 different in the future. If your split rules create new groups,
16788 remember to supply a @code{create-directory} server parameter.
16791 @subsubsection Group parameters
16793 @code{nnmaildir} uses several group parameters. It's safe to ignore
16794 all this; the default behavior for @code{nnmaildir} is the same as the
16795 default behavior for other mail back ends: articles are deleted after
16796 one week, etc. Except for the expiry parameters, all this
16797 functionality is unique to @code{nnmaildir}, so you can ignore it if
16798 you're just trying to duplicate the behavior you already have with
16801 If the value of any of these parameters is a vector, the first element
16802 is evaluated as a Lisp form and the result is used, rather than the
16803 original value. If the value is not a vector, the value itself is
16804 evaluated as a Lisp form. (This is why these parameters use names
16805 different from those of other, similar parameters supported by other
16806 back ends: they have different, though similar, meanings.) (For
16807 numbers, strings, @code{nil}, and @code{t}, you can ignore the
16808 @code{eval} business again; for other values, remember to use an extra
16809 quote and wrap the value in a vector when appropriate.)
16813 An integer specifying the minimum age, in seconds, of an article
16814 before it will be expired, or the symbol @code{never} to specify that
16815 articles should never be expired. If this parameter is not set,
16816 @code{nnmaildir} falls back to the usual
16817 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) variables (the
16818 @code{expiry-wait} group parameter overrides @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}
16819 and makes @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} ineffective). If you
16820 wanted a value of 3 days, you could use something like @code{[(* 3 24
16821 60 60)]}; @code{nnmaildir} will evaluate the form and use the result.
16822 An article's age is measured starting from the article file's
16823 modification time. Normally, this is the same as the article's
16824 delivery time, but editing an article makes it younger. Moving an
16825 article (other than via expiry) may also make an article younger.
16828 If this is set to a string such as a full Gnus group name, like
16830 "backend+server.address.string:group.name"
16832 and if it is not the name of the same group that the parameter belongs
16833 to, then articles will be moved to the specified group during expiry
16834 before being deleted. @emph{If this is set to an @code{nnmaildir}
16835 group, the article will be just as old in the destination group as it
16836 was in the source group.} So be careful with @code{expire-age} in the
16837 destination group. If this is set to the name of the same group that
16838 the parameter belongs to, then the article is not expired at all. If
16839 you use the vector form, the first element is evaluated once for each
16840 article. So that form can refer to
16841 @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name}, etc., to decide where to put the
16842 article. @emph{Even if this parameter is not set, @code{nnmaildir}
16843 does not fall back to the @code{expiry-target} group parameter or the
16844 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} variable.}
16847 If this is set to @code{t}, @code{nnmaildir} will treat the articles
16848 in this maildir as read-only. This means: articles are not renamed
16849 from @file{new/} into @file{cur/}; articles are only found in
16850 @file{new/}, not @file{cur/}; articles are never deleted; articles
16851 cannot be edited. @file{new/} is expected to be a symlink to the
16852 @file{new/} directory of another maildir---e.g., a system-wide mailbox
16853 containing a mailing list of common interest. Everything in the
16854 maildir outside @file{new/} is @emph{not} treated as read-only, so for
16855 a shared mailbox, you do still need to set up your own maildir (or
16856 have write permission to the shared mailbox); your maildir just won't
16857 contain extra copies of the articles.
16859 @item directory-files
16860 A function with the same interface as @code{directory-files}. It is
16861 used to scan the directories in the maildir corresponding to this
16862 group to find articles. The default is the function specified by the
16863 server's @code{directory-files} parameter.
16865 @item distrust-Lines:
16866 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmaildir} will always count the lines of an
16867 article, rather than use the @code{Lines:} header field. If
16868 @code{nil}, the header field will be used if present.
16871 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(read expire)]}. Whenever
16872 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
16873 say that all articles have these marks, regardless of whether the
16874 marks stored in the filesystem say so. This is a proof-of-concept
16875 feature that will probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done
16876 in Gnus proper, or abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
16879 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(tick expire)]}. Whenever
16880 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
16881 say that no articles have these marks, regardless of whether the marks
16882 stored in the filesystem say so. @code{never-marks} overrides
16883 @code{always-marks}. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will
16884 probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
16885 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
16887 @item nov-cache-size
16888 An integer specifying the size of the @acronym{NOV} memory cache. To
16889 speed things up, @code{nnmaildir} keeps @acronym{NOV} data in memory
16890 for a limited number of articles in each group. (This is probably not
16891 worthwhile, and will probably be removed in the future.) This
16892 parameter's value is noticed only the first time a group is seen after
16893 the server is opened---i.e., when you first start Gnus, typically.
16894 The @acronym{NOV} cache is never resized until the server is closed
16895 and reopened. The default is an estimate of the number of articles
16896 that would be displayed in the summary buffer: a count of articles
16897 that are either marked with @code{tick} or not marked with
16898 @code{read}, plus a little extra.
16901 @subsubsection Article identification
16902 Articles are stored in the @file{cur/} subdirectory of each maildir.
16903 Each article file is named like @code{uniq:info}, where @code{uniq}
16904 contains no colons. @code{nnmaildir} ignores, but preserves, the
16905 @code{:info} part. (Other maildir readers typically use this part of
16906 the filename to store marks.) The @code{uniq} part uniquely
16907 identifies the article, and is used in various places in the
16908 @file{.nnmaildir/} subdirectory of the maildir to store information
16909 about the corresponding article. The full pathname of an article is
16910 available in the variable @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name} after you
16911 request the article in the summary buffer.
16913 @subsubsection NOV data
16914 An article identified by @code{uniq} has its @acronym{NOV} data (used
16915 to generate lines in the summary buffer) stored in
16916 @code{.nnmaildir/nov/uniq}. There is no
16917 @code{nnmaildir-generate-nov-databases} function. (There isn't much
16918 need for it---an article's @acronym{NOV} data is updated automatically
16919 when the article or @code{nnmail-extra-headers} has changed.) You can
16920 force @code{nnmaildir} to regenerate the @acronym{NOV} data for a
16921 single article simply by deleting the corresponding @acronym{NOV}
16922 file, but @emph{beware}: this will also cause @code{nnmaildir} to
16923 assign a new article number for this article, which may cause trouble
16924 with @code{seen} marks, the Agent, and the cache.
16926 @subsubsection Article marks
16927 An article identified by @code{uniq} is considered to have the mark
16928 @code{flag} when the file @file{.nnmaildir/marks/flag/uniq} exists.
16929 When Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for a group's marks, @code{nnmaildir}
16930 looks for such files and reports the set of marks it finds. When Gnus
16931 asks @code{nnmaildir} to store a new set of marks, @code{nnmaildir}
16932 creates and deletes the corresponding files as needed. (Actually,
16933 rather than create a new file for each mark, it just creates hard
16934 links to @file{.nnmaildir/markfile}, to save inodes.)
16936 You can invent new marks by creating a new directory in
16937 @file{.nnmaildir/marks/}. You can tar up a maildir and remove it from
16938 your server, untar it later, and keep your marks. You can add and
16939 remove marks yourself by creating and deleting mark files. If you do
16940 this while Gnus is running and your @code{nnmaildir} server is open,
16941 it's best to exit all summary buffers for @code{nnmaildir} groups and
16942 type @kbd{s} in the group buffer first, and to type @kbd{g} or
16943 @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer afterwards. Otherwise, Gnus might not
16944 pick up the changes, and might undo them.
16948 @subsubsection Mail Folders
16950 @cindex mbox folders
16951 @cindex mail folders
16953 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a
16954 separate file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format.
16955 @code{nnfolder} will add extra headers to keep track of article
16956 numbers and arrival dates.
16958 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
16960 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
16961 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
16962 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
16963 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
16964 Marks for a group are usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
16965 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
16966 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder}
16967 directory. Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to
16968 backup, use @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup
16969 into the @code{nnfolder} directory).
16971 Virtual server settings:
16974 @item nnfolder-directory
16975 @vindex nnfolder-directory
16976 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this
16977 directory. The default is the value of @code{message-directory}
16978 (whose default is @file{~/Mail})
16980 @item nnfolder-active-file
16981 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
16982 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
16984 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
16985 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
16986 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
16987 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}
16989 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
16990 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
16991 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The
16992 default is @code{t}
16994 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
16995 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
16996 @cindex backup files
16997 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
16998 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If
16999 you wish to switch this off, you could say something like the
17000 following in your @file{.emacs} file:
17003 (defun turn-off-backup ()
17004 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
17006 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
17009 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
17010 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
17011 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
17012 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
17013 extract some information from it before removing it.
17015 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
17016 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
17017 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
17018 default is @code{nil}.
17020 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
17021 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
17022 The extension for @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
17024 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
17025 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
17026 The directory where the @acronym{NOV} files should be stored. If
17027 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
17029 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
17030 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
17031 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
17032 default is @code{nil}.
17034 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
17035 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
17036 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
17038 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
17039 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
17040 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If
17041 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
17046 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
17047 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
17048 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
17049 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
17050 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
17051 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
17054 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
17055 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
17057 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
17058 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
17059 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
17060 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
17061 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
17063 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
17064 typically done by @acronym{NNTP} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
17065 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
17066 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @acronym{NNTP} server), and
17067 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
17068 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
17069 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
17070 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
17073 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
17074 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
17075 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
17076 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
17081 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
17082 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
17083 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
17084 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
17085 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
17086 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
17087 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
17088 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
17089 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
17090 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
17091 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
17092 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
17093 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
17098 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
17099 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
17100 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
17101 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
17102 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
17103 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
17104 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
17105 Rmail was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
17106 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote Rmail
17107 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
17108 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
17109 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
17110 headers/status bits stuff. Rmail itself still exists as well, of
17111 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
17113 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
17114 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
17119 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
17120 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
17121 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
17122 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
17123 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
17124 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
17125 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
17126 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
17127 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
17128 @acronym{NNTP} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
17129 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
17130 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
17131 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
17132 provided by the active file and overviews.
17134 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
17135 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
17136 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
17137 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
17138 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
17141 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
17142 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
17147 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
17148 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
17149 individual files, but with little or no indexing support---@code{nnmh}
17150 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
17151 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
17152 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
17153 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
17157 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
17158 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
17159 itself puts @emph{all} one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
17160 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
17161 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
17162 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
17163 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
17164 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
17165 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
17167 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
17168 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
17169 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
17170 friendly mail back end all over.
17174 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses
17175 incompatible group parameters, slightly different from those of other
17178 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
17179 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
17180 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
17181 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
17182 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
17183 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
17184 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to
17185 @uref{http://www.namesys.com/, ReiserFS} or another non-block-structured
17188 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
17189 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
17190 This means you can skip Gnus' mail splitting if your mail is already
17191 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
17192 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
17193 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
17194 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
17195 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
17196 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
17197 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will not
17198 undergo treatment such as duplicate checking.
17200 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
17201 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
17202 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
17203 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
17204 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
17207 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
17208 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
17209 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
17210 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
17211 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
17212 would) to make it use less memory. This caching will probably be
17213 removed in the future.
17215 Startup is likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than with other
17216 back ends. Everything else is likely to be faster, depending in part
17217 on your file system.
17219 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
17220 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
17225 @node Browsing the Web
17226 @section Browsing the Web
17228 @cindex browsing the web
17232 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
17233 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
17234 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
17235 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
17236 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
17237 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
17238 even know what a news group is.
17240 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
17241 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
17242 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
17243 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
17244 you mad in the end.
17246 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
17249 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
17250 interfaces to these sources.
17254 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
17255 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
17256 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
17257 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
17258 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
17259 * Customizing W3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/W3 from Gnus.
17262 All the web sources require Emacs/W3 and the url library or those
17263 alternatives to work.
17265 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
17266 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @acronym{HTML} data
17267 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
17268 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
17269 though, you should be ok.
17271 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
17272 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
17273 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
17274 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
17275 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
17277 @node Archiving Mail
17278 @subsection Archiving Mail
17279 @cindex archiving mail
17280 @cindex backup of mail
17282 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
17283 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
17284 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
17285 marks is fairly simple.
17287 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
17288 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
17291 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
17292 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
17293 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
17294 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
17295 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
17296 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
17297 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
17298 before you restore the data.
17300 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
17301 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
17302 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
17303 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
17304 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
17305 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
17306 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
17307 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
17308 is unnecessary in that case.
17311 @subsection Web Searches
17316 @cindex Usenet searches
17317 @cindex searching the Usenet
17319 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
17320 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
17321 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
17322 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
17323 searches without having to use a browser.
17325 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
17326 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
17327 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
17328 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
17329 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
17331 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
17332 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
17333 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
17334 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
17335 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
17336 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
17337 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
17338 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
17339 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
17340 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
17343 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
17344 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
17345 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'@^etre} is to
17346 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
17347 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
17348 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
17350 You must have the @code{url} and @code{W3} package or those alternatives
17351 (try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{mm-url} variable group)
17352 installed to be able to use @code{nnweb}.
17354 Virtual server variables:
17359 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
17360 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
17361 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
17364 @vindex nnweb-search
17365 The search string to feed to the search engine.
17367 @item nnweb-max-hits
17368 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
17369 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
17372 @item nnweb-type-definition
17373 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
17374 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
17375 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
17380 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
17384 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
17387 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
17390 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
17394 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
17401 @subsection Slashdot
17405 @uref{http://slashdot.org/, Slashdot} is a popular news site, with
17406 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
17407 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
17409 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
17410 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
17413 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
17414 '((nnslashdot "")))
17417 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
17418 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
17419 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
17420 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
17421 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
17424 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
17425 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
17427 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
17428 comments), some light @acronym{HTML}izations will be performed. In
17429 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
17430 @samp{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @samp{br} added to
17431 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @acronym{HTML}
17432 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
17433 @acronym{HTML} forms.
17435 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
17438 @item nnslashdot-threaded
17439 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
17440 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
17441 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
17442 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
17443 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
17444 but much, much slower than unthreaded.
17446 @item nnslashdot-login-name
17447 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
17448 The login name to use when posting.
17450 @item nnslashdot-password
17451 @vindex nnslashdot-password
17452 The password to use when posting.
17454 @item nnslashdot-directory
17455 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
17456 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
17457 @file{~/News/slashdot/}.
17459 @item nnslashdot-active-url
17460 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
17461 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch the
17462 information on news articles and comments. The default is@*
17463 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
17465 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
17466 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
17467 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch comments.
17469 @item nnslashdot-article-url
17470 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
17471 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch the news
17472 article. The default is
17473 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
17475 @item nnslashdot-threshold
17476 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
17477 The score threshold. The default is -1.
17479 @item nnslashdot-group-number
17480 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
17481 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
17482 updated. The default is 0.
17489 @subsection Ultimate
17491 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
17493 @uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/, The Ultimate Bulletin Board} is
17494 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
17495 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
17496 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
17498 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
17499 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
17500 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @acronym{URL}
17501 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
17502 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
17503 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
17504 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
17506 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
17509 @item nnultimate-directory
17510 @vindex nnultimate-directory
17511 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is@*
17512 @file{~/News/ultimate/}.
17517 @subsection Web Archive
17519 @cindex Web Archive
17521 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
17522 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
17523 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
17524 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
17527 @findex gnus-group-make-warchive-group
17528 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
17529 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
17530 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET @var{an_egroup} RET egroups RET
17531 www.egroups.com RET @var{your@@email.address} RET}. (Substitute the
17532 @var{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
17533 @var{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
17534 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
17536 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
17539 @item nnwarchive-directory
17540 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
17541 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is@*
17542 @file{~/News/warchive/}.
17544 @item nnwarchive-login
17545 @vindex nnwarchive-login
17546 The account name on the web server.
17548 @item nnwarchive-passwd
17549 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
17550 The password for your account on the web server.
17558 Some web sites have an RDF Site Summary (@acronym{RSS}).
17559 @acronym{RSS} is a format for summarizing headlines from news related
17560 sites (such as BBC or CNN). But basically anything list-like can be
17561 presented as an @acronym{RSS} feed: weblogs, changelogs or recent
17562 changes to a wiki (e.g. @url{http://cliki.net/recent-changes.rdf}).
17564 @acronym{RSS} has a quite regular and nice interface, and it's
17565 possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
17567 Note: you had better use Emacs which supports the @code{utf-8} coding
17568 system because @acronym{RSS} uses UTF-8 for encoding non-@acronym{ASCII}
17569 text by default. It is also used by default for non-@acronym{ASCII}
17572 @kindex G R (Group)
17573 Use @kbd{G R} from the group buffer to subscribe to a feed---you will be
17574 prompted for the location, the title and the description of the feed.
17575 The title, which allows any characters, will be used for the group name
17576 and the name of the group data file. The description can be omitted.
17578 An easy way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something like
17579 the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET y}, then
17580 subscribe to groups.
17582 The @code{nnrss} back end saves the group data file in
17583 @code{nnrss-directory} (see below) for each @code{nnrss} group. File
17584 names containing non-@acronym{ASCII} characters will be encoded by the
17585 coding system specified with the @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system}
17586 variable. If it is @code{nil}, in Emacs the coding system defaults to
17587 the value of @code{default-file-name-coding-system}. If you are using
17588 XEmacs and want to use non-@acronym{ASCII} group names, you should set
17589 the value for the @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system} variable properly.
17591 The @code{nnrss} back end generates @samp{multipart/alternative}
17592 @acronym{MIME} articles in which each contains a @samp{text/plain} part
17593 and a @samp{text/html} part.
17596 You can also use the following commands to import and export your
17597 subscriptions from a file in @acronym{OPML} format (Outline Processor
17600 @defun nnrss-opml-import file
17601 Prompt for an @acronym{OPML} file, and subscribe to each feed in the
17605 @defun nnrss-opml-export
17606 Write your current @acronym{RSS} subscriptions to a buffer in
17607 @acronym{OPML} format.
17610 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
17613 @item nnrss-directory
17614 @vindex nnrss-directory
17615 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
17616 @file{~/News/rss/}.
17618 @item nnrss-file-coding-system
17619 @vindex nnrss-file-coding-system
17620 The coding system used when reading and writing the @code{nnrss} groups
17621 data files. The default is the value of
17622 @code{mm-universal-coding-system} (which defaults to @code{emacs-mule}
17623 in Emacs or @code{escape-quoted} in XEmacs).
17625 @item nnrss-ignore-article-fields
17626 @vindex nnrss-ignore-article-fields
17627 Some feeds update constantly article fields during their publications,
17628 e.g. to indicate the number of comments. However, if there is
17629 a difference between the local article and the distant one, the latter
17630 is considered to be new. To avoid this and discard some fields, set this
17631 variable to the list of fields to be ignored. The default is
17632 @code{'(slash:comments)}.
17634 @item nnrss-use-local
17635 @vindex nnrss-use-local
17636 @findex nnrss-generate-download-script
17637 If you set @code{nnrss-use-local} to @code{t}, @code{nnrss} will read
17638 the feeds from local files in @code{nnrss-directory}. You can use
17639 the command @code{nnrss-generate-download-script} to generate a
17640 download script using @command{wget}.
17642 @item nnrss-wash-html-in-text-plain-parts
17643 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{nnrss} renders text in @samp{text/plain}
17644 parts as @acronym{HTML}. The function specified by the
17645 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} variable (@pxref{Display Customization,
17646 ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) will be used
17647 to render text. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default, text will
17648 simply be folded. Leave it @code{nil} if you prefer to see
17649 @samp{text/html} parts.
17652 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
17653 the summary buffer.
17656 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
17657 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
17659 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
17661 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
17662 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
17665 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
17669 (require 'browse-url)
17671 (defun browse-nnrss-url (arg)
17673 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
17676 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
17677 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
17680 (browse-url (cdr url))
17681 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
17682 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
17684 (eval-after-load "gnus"
17685 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
17686 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
17687 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
17690 Even if you have added @samp{text/html} to the
17691 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives} variable (@pxref{Display
17692 Customization, ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
17693 Manual}) since you don't want to see @acronym{HTML} parts, it might be
17694 more useful especially in @code{nnrss} groups to display
17695 @samp{text/html} parts. Here's an example of setting
17696 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives} as a group parameter (@pxref{Group
17697 Parameters}) in order to display @samp{text/html} parts only in
17698 @code{nnrss} groups:
17701 ;; @r{Set the default value of @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}.}
17702 (eval-after-load "gnus-sum"
17704 'gnus-newsgroup-variables
17705 '(mm-discouraged-alternatives
17706 . '("text/html" "image/.*"))))
17708 ;; @r{Display @samp{text/html} parts in @code{nnrss} groups.}
17711 '("\\`nnrss:" (mm-discouraged-alternatives nil)))
17715 @node Customizing W3
17716 @subsection Customizing W3
17722 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/W3 (or those
17723 alternatives) to display web pages. Emacs/W3 is documented in its own
17724 manual, but there are some things that may be more relevant for Gnus
17727 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/W3 follow links
17728 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
17729 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
17732 (eval-after-load "w3"
17734 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
17735 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
17736 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
17737 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
17739 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
17742 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in W3-rendered
17743 @acronym{HTML} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
17750 @cindex @acronym{IMAP}
17752 @acronym{IMAP} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or @dots{}),
17753 think of it as a modernized @acronym{NNTP}. Connecting to a @acronym{IMAP}
17754 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
17755 specify the network address of the server.
17757 @acronym{IMAP} has two properties. First, @acronym{IMAP} can do
17758 everything that @acronym{POP} can, it can hence be viewed as a
17759 @acronym{POP++}. Secondly, @acronym{IMAP} is a mail storage protocol,
17760 similar to @acronym{NNTP} being a news storage protocol---however,
17761 @acronym{IMAP} offers more features than @acronym{NNTP} because news
17762 is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
17764 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a @acronym{POP++}, use an imap
17765 entry in @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from
17766 the @acronym{IMAP} server and store them on the local disk. This is
17767 not the usage described in this section---@xref{Mail Sources}.
17769 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
17770 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
17771 manipulate mails stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server. This is the kind of
17772 usage explained in this section.
17774 A server configuration in @file{~/.gnus.el} with a few @acronym{IMAP}
17775 servers might look something like the following. (Note that for
17776 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you need external programs and libraries,
17780 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
17781 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; @r{no special configuration}
17782 ; @r{perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:}
17784 (nnimap-address "localhost")
17785 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
17786 ; @r{a UW server running on localhost}
17788 (nnimap-server-port 143)
17789 (nnimap-address "localhost")
17790 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
17791 ; @r{anonymous public cyrus server:}
17792 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
17793 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
17794 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
17795 (nnimap-stream network))
17796 ; @r{a ssl server on a non-standard port:}
17798 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
17799 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
17800 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
17803 After defining the new server, you can subscribe to groups on the
17804 server using normal Gnus commands such as @kbd{U} in the Group Buffer
17805 (@pxref{Subscription Commands}) or via the Server Buffer
17806 (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
17808 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
17813 @item nnimap-address
17814 @vindex nnimap-address
17816 The address of the remote @acronym{IMAP} server. Defaults to the virtual
17817 server name if not specified.
17819 @item nnimap-server-port
17820 @vindex nnimap-server-port
17821 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}.
17823 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
17826 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
17827 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
17830 @item nnimap-list-pattern
17831 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
17832 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
17833 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
17834 interested in a few---some servers export your home directory via
17835 @acronym{IMAP}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
17836 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
17838 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
17839 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
17840 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
17843 Example server specification:
17846 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
17847 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
17848 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
17851 @item nnimap-stream
17852 @vindex nnimap-stream
17853 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
17854 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
17855 of @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}. (@acronym{IMAP} over
17856 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is being replaced by STARTTLS, which can
17857 be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
17859 Example server specification:
17862 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
17863 (nnimap-stream ssl))
17866 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
17870 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
17871 @samp{gsasl} or @samp{imtest} program.
17873 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
17875 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
17876 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
17879 @dfn{tls:} Connect through @acronym{TLS}. Requires GNUTLS (the program
17880 @samp{gnutls-cli}).
17882 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through @acronym{SSL}. Requires OpenSSL (the program
17883 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
17885 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @acronym{IMAP} connection.
17887 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
17890 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
17891 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
17892 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
17893 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
17894 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
17895 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
17896 restrictions on @acronym{IMAP} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
17897 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
17898 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
17901 For @acronym{TLS} connection, the @code{gnutls-cli} program from GNUTLS is
17902 needed. It is available from
17903 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/}.
17905 @vindex imap-gssapi-program
17906 This parameter specifies a list of command lines that invoke a GSSAPI
17907 authenticated @acronym{IMAP} stream in a subshell. They are tried
17908 sequentially until a connection is made, or the list has been
17909 exhausted. By default, @samp{gsasl} from GNU SASL, available from
17910 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gsasl/}, and the @samp{imtest}
17911 program from Cyrus IMAPD (see @code{imap-kerberos4-program}), are
17914 @vindex imap-ssl-program
17915 For @acronym{SSL} connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
17916 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
17917 and nnimap support it too---although the most recent versions of
17918 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
17919 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
17920 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
17923 @vindex imap-shell-program
17924 @vindex imap-shell-host
17925 For @acronym{IMAP} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the
17926 variable @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call. Make
17927 sure nothing is interfering with the output of the program, e.g., don't
17928 forget to redirect the error output to the void.
17930 @item nnimap-authenticator
17931 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
17933 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
17934 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
17936 Example server specification:
17939 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
17940 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
17943 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
17947 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
17948 external program @code{gsasl} or @code{imtest}.
17950 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
17953 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
17954 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
17956 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
17958 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
17960 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as ``anonymous'', supplying your email address as password.
17963 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
17965 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
17966 Unlike Parmenides the @acronym{IMAP} designers have decided things that
17967 don't exist actually do exist. More specifically, @acronym{IMAP} has
17968 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
17969 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
17970 nnimap does when you delete an article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
17973 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
17974 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
17975 running in circles yet?
17977 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
17978 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
17981 The possible options are:
17986 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as ``Deleted'' when
17989 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
17990 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @acronym{IMAP} clients
17991 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
17992 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
17994 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
17999 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
18000 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
18002 If non-@code{nil} (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as
18003 well), for other @acronym{IMAP} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
18004 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
18005 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @acronym{IMAP}
18006 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @acronym{IMAP}
18009 Probably the only reason for frobbing this would be if you're trying
18010 enable per-user persistent dormant flags, using something like:
18013 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
18014 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
18015 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
18016 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
18019 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
18020 as ticked for other users.
18022 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
18024 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
18025 @cindex expiring @acronym{IMAP} mail
18027 This variable contain the @acronym{IMAP} search command sent to server when
18028 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
18029 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
18030 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
18032 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
18033 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
18034 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
18035 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
18037 However, if @code{nnimap-search-uids-not-since-is-evil}
18038 is true, this variable has no effect since the search logic
18039 is reversed, as described below.
18041 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
18042 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
18044 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
18045 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
18046 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
18047 @ref{NNTP}. An example of an .authinfo line for an IMAP server, is:
18050 machine students.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis port imap
18053 Note that it should be @code{port imap}, or @code{port 143}, if you
18054 use a @code{nnimap-stream} of @code{tls} or @code{ssl}, even if the
18055 actual port number used is port 993 for secured IMAP. For
18056 convenience, Gnus will accept @code{port imaps} as a synonym of
18059 @item nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
18060 @vindex nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
18062 Unselect mailboxes before looking for new mail in them. Some servers
18063 seem to need this under some circumstances; it was reported that
18066 @item nnimap-nov-is-evil
18067 @vindex nnimap-nov-is-evil
18068 @cindex Courier @acronym{IMAP} server
18069 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
18071 Never generate or use a local @acronym{NOV} database. Defaults to the
18072 value of @code{gnus-agent}.
18074 Using a @acronym{NOV} database usually makes header fetching much
18075 faster, but it uses the @code{UID SEARCH UID} command, which is very
18076 slow on some servers (notably some versions of Courier). Since the Gnus
18077 Agent caches the information in the @acronym{NOV} database without using
18078 the slow command, this variable defaults to true if the Agent is in use,
18079 and false otherwise.
18081 @item nnimap-search-uids-not-since-is-evil
18082 @vindex nnimap-search-uids-not-since-is-evil
18083 @cindex Courier @acronym{IMAP} server
18084 @cindex expiring @acronym{IMAP} mail
18086 Avoid the @code{UID SEARCH UID @var{message numbers} NOT SINCE
18087 @var{date}} command, which is slow on some @acronym{IMAP} servers
18088 (notably, some versions of Courier). Instead, use @code{UID SEARCH SINCE
18089 @var{date}} and prune the list of expirable articles within Gnus.
18091 When Gnus expires your mail (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), it starts with a
18092 list of expirable articles and asks the IMAP server questions like ``Of
18093 these articles, which ones are older than a week?'' While this seems
18094 like a perfectly reasonable question, some IMAP servers take a long time
18095 to answer it, since they seemingly go looking into every old article to
18096 see if it is one of the expirable ones. Curiously, the question ``Of
18097 @emph{all} articles, which ones are newer than a week?'' seems to be
18098 much faster to answer, so setting this variable causes Gnus to ask this
18099 question and figure out the answer to the real question itself.
18101 This problem can really sneak up on you: when you first configure Gnus,
18102 everything works fine, but once you accumulate a couple thousand
18103 messages, you start cursing Gnus for being so slow. On the other hand,
18104 if you get a lot of email within a week, setting this variable will
18105 cause a lot of network traffic between Gnus and the IMAP server.
18107 @item nnimap-logout-timeout
18108 @vindex nnimap-logout-timeout
18110 There is a case where a connection to a @acronym{IMAP} server is unable
18111 to close, when connecting to the server via a certain kind of network,
18112 e.g. @acronym{VPN}. In that case, it will be observed that a connection
18113 between Emacs and the local network looks alive even if the server has
18114 closed a connection for some reason (typically, a timeout).
18115 Consequently, Emacs continues waiting for a response from the server for
18116 the @code{LOGOUT} command that Emacs sent, or hangs in other words. If
18117 you are in such a network, setting this variable to a number of seconds
18118 will be helpful. If it is set, a hung connection will be closed
18119 forcibly, after this number of seconds from the time Emacs sends the
18120 @code{LOGOUT} command. It should not be too small value but too large
18121 value will be inconvenient too. Perhaps the value 1.0 will be a good
18122 candidate but it might be worth trying some other values.
18124 Example server specification:
18127 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
18128 (nnimap-logout-timeout 1.0))
18134 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
18135 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
18136 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
18137 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
18138 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
18139 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
18144 @node Splitting in IMAP
18145 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
18146 @cindex splitting imap mail
18148 Splitting is something Gnus users have loved and used for years, and now
18149 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
18150 @acronym{IMAP} servers have server side splitting and those that have
18151 splitting seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that
18152 @acronym{IMAP} support for Gnus has to do its own splitting.
18156 (Incidentally, people seem to have been dreaming on, and Sieve has
18157 gaining a market share and is supported by several IMAP servers.
18158 Fortunately, Gnus support it too, @xref{Sieve Commands}.)
18160 Here are the variables of interest:
18164 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
18165 @cindex splitting, crosspost
18167 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
18169 If non-@code{nil}, do crossposting if several split methods match the
18170 mail. If @code{nil}, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule}
18171 found will be used.
18173 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
18175 @item nnimap-split-inbox
18176 @cindex splitting, inbox
18178 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
18180 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @acronym{IMAP}
18181 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to @code{nil}, which means that
18182 splitting is disabled!
18185 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
18186 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
18189 No nnmail equivalent.
18191 @item nnimap-split-rule
18192 @cindex splitting, rules
18193 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
18195 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
18198 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
18199 sublist gives the name of the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox to move articles
18200 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
18201 Neither did I, we need examples.
18204 (setq nnimap-split-rule
18206 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
18207 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
18208 ("INBOX.private" "")))
18211 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
18212 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
18213 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
18215 The first string may contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by
18216 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
18220 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
18223 The first element can also be the symbol @code{junk} to indicate that
18224 matching messages should simply be deleted. Use with care.
18226 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
18227 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
18228 containing the headers of the article. It should return a
18229 non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
18231 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
18232 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
18233 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
18234 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
18235 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
18236 them every time you fetch new mail.)
18238 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
18239 end. The first rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have
18240 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.
18242 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
18243 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
18244 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
18246 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
18248 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
18249 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
18250 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
18253 (setq nnimap-split-rule
18254 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
18255 ("junk" "From:.*Simon"))))
18256 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
18257 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
18258 ("junk" my-junk-func))))))
18261 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
18262 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
18263 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
18264 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
18265 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
18266 group/function elements.
18268 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
18270 @item nnimap-split-predicate
18272 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
18274 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
18275 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
18277 This might be useful if you use another @acronym{IMAP} client to read mail in
18278 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
18279 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
18282 @item nnimap-split-fancy
18283 @cindex splitting, fancy
18284 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
18285 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
18287 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
18288 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
18289 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
18291 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
18292 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
18293 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
18294 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
18299 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
18300 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
18303 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
18305 @item nnimap-split-download-body
18306 @findex nnimap-split-download-body
18307 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
18309 Set to non-@code{nil} to download entire articles during splitting.
18310 This is generally not required, and will slow things down
18311 considerably. You may need it if you want to use an advanced
18312 splitting function that analyzes the body to split the article.
18316 @node Expiring in IMAP
18317 @subsection Expiring in IMAP
18318 @cindex expiring @acronym{IMAP} mail
18320 Even though @code{nnimap} is not a proper @code{nnmail} derived back
18321 end, it supports most features in regular expiring (@pxref{Expiring
18322 Mail}). Unlike splitting in @acronym{IMAP} (@pxref{Splitting in
18323 IMAP}) it does not clone the @code{nnmail} variables (i.e., creating
18324 @var{nnimap-expiry-wait}) but reuse the @code{nnmail} variables. What
18325 follows below are the variables used by the @code{nnimap} expiry
18328 A note on how the expire mark is stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server is
18329 appropriate here as well. The expire mark is translated into a
18330 @code{imap} client specific mark, @code{gnus-expire}, and stored on the
18331 message. This means that likely only Gnus will understand and treat
18332 the @code{gnus-expire} mark properly, although other clients may allow
18333 you to view client specific flags on the message. It also means that
18334 your server must support permanent storage of client specific flags on
18335 messages. Most do, fortunately.
18337 If expiring @acronym{IMAP} mail seems very slow, try setting the server
18338 variable @code{nnimap-search-uids-not-since-is-evil}.
18342 @item nnmail-expiry-wait
18343 @item nnmail-expiry-wait-function
18345 These variables are fully supported. The expire value can be a
18346 number, the symbol @code{immediate} or @code{never}.
18348 @item nnmail-expiry-target
18350 This variable is supported, and internally implemented by calling the
18351 @code{nnmail} functions that handle this. It contains an optimization
18352 that if the destination is a @acronym{IMAP} group on the same server, the
18353 article is copied instead of appended (that is, uploaded again).
18357 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
18358 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
18359 @cindex editing imap acls
18360 @cindex Access Control Lists
18361 @cindex Editing @acronym{IMAP} ACLs
18362 @kindex G l (Group)
18363 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
18365 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @acronym{IMAP} for
18366 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
18367 @acronym{IMAP} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
18370 To edit an ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
18371 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with an ACL
18372 editing window with detailed instructions.
18374 Some possible uses:
18378 Giving ``anyone'' the ``lrs'' rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
18379 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
18380 follow the list without subscribing to it.
18382 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
18383 ``anyone'' posting ("p") capabilities to have ``plussing'' work (that is,
18384 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox
18388 @node Expunging mailboxes
18389 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
18393 @cindex manual expunging
18394 @kindex G x (Group)
18395 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
18397 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
18398 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
18399 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
18401 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
18404 @node A note on namespaces
18405 @subsection A note on namespaces
18406 @cindex IMAP namespace
18409 The @acronym{IMAP} protocol has a concept called namespaces, described
18410 by the following text in the RFC2060:
18413 5.1.2. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention
18415 By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
18416 which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
18417 the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
18418 types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
18420 For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
18421 newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the USENET
18422 newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes. Thus, the
18423 comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have an mailbox name of
18424 "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name "comp.mail.misc" could refer
18425 to a different object (e.g. a user's private mailbox).
18428 While there is nothing in this text that warrants concern for the
18429 @acronym{IMAP} implementation in Gnus, some servers use namespace
18430 prefixes in a way that does not work with how Gnus uses mailbox names.
18432 Specifically, University of Washington's @acronym{IMAP} server uses
18433 mailbox names like @code{#driver.mbx/read-mail} which are valid only
18434 in the @sc{create} and @sc{append} commands. After the mailbox is
18435 created (or a messages is appended to a mailbox), it must be accessed
18436 without the namespace prefix, i.e. @code{read-mail}. Since Gnus do
18437 not make it possible for the user to guarantee that user entered
18438 mailbox names will only be used with the CREATE and APPEND commands,
18439 you should simply not use the namespace prefixed mailbox names in
18442 See the UoW IMAPD documentation for the @code{#driver.*/} prefix
18443 for more information on how to use the prefixes. They are a power
18444 tool and should be used only if you are sure what the effects are.
18446 @node Debugging IMAP
18447 @subsection Debugging IMAP
18448 @cindex IMAP debugging
18449 @cindex protocol dump (IMAP)
18451 @acronym{IMAP} is a complex protocol, more so than @acronym{NNTP} or
18452 @acronym{POP3}. Implementation bugs are not unlikely, and we do our
18453 best to fix them right away. If you encounter odd behavior, chances
18454 are that either the server or Gnus is buggy.
18456 If you are familiar with network protocols in general, you will
18457 probably be able to extract some clues from the protocol dump of the
18458 exchanges between Gnus and the server. Even if you are not familiar
18459 with network protocols, when you include the protocol dump in
18460 @acronym{IMAP}-related bug reports you are helping us with data
18461 critical to solving the problem. Therefore, we strongly encourage you
18462 to include the protocol dump when reporting IMAP bugs in Gnus.
18466 Because the protocol dump, when enabled, generates lots of data, it is
18467 disabled by default. You can enable it by setting @code{imap-log} as
18474 This instructs the @code{imap.el} package to log any exchanges with
18475 the server. The log is stored in the buffer @samp{*imap-log*}. Look
18476 for error messages, which sometimes are tagged with the keyword
18477 @code{BAD}---but when submitting a bug, make sure to include all the
18480 @node Other Sources
18481 @section Other Sources
18483 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
18484 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
18488 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
18489 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
18490 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
18491 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
18492 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
18496 @node Directory Groups
18497 @subsection Directory Groups
18499 @cindex directory groups
18501 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
18502 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
18505 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
18506 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
18507 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
18508 back end to read directories. Big deal.
18510 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
18511 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
18512 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
18513 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
18514 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
18516 @code{nndir} will use @acronym{NOV} files if they are present.
18518 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
18519 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
18520 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
18521 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
18524 @node Anything Groups
18525 @subsection Anything Groups
18528 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
18529 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
18530 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
18533 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
18534 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
18535 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
18536 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
18537 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
18538 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
18539 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
18540 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
18541 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
18542 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
18545 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
18546 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
18547 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
18548 in the article buffer, just as usual.
18550 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
18551 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
18552 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
18553 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
18555 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
18556 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
18557 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
18558 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
18559 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
18560 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
18561 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
18562 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
18567 @item nneething-map-file-directory
18568 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
18569 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
18570 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
18572 @item nneething-exclude-files
18573 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
18574 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
18575 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
18577 @item nneething-include-files
18578 @vindex nneething-include-files
18579 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
18580 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
18582 @item nneething-map-file
18583 @vindex nneething-map-file
18584 Name of the map files.
18588 @node Document Groups
18589 @subsection Document Groups
18591 @cindex documentation group
18594 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
18595 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
18601 The Babyl (Rmail) mail box.
18606 The standard Unix mbox file.
18608 @cindex MMDF mail box
18610 The MMDF mail box format.
18613 Several news articles appended into a file.
18615 @cindex rnews batch files
18617 The rnews batch transport format.
18620 Netscape mail boxes.
18623 @acronym{MIME} multipart messages.
18625 @item standard-digest
18626 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
18629 A @acronym{MIME} digest of messages.
18631 @item lanl-gov-announce
18632 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
18634 @cindex forwarded messages
18635 @item rfc822-forward
18636 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
18639 The Outlook mail box.
18642 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
18645 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
18648 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
18651 An RFC934-forwarded message.
18657 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
18660 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
18666 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
18667 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
18668 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
18671 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
18672 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
18673 group. And that's it.
18675 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
18676 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
18677 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
18678 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
18679 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
18680 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
18681 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
18682 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
18683 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
18684 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
18686 Virtual server variables:
18689 @item nndoc-article-type
18690 @vindex nndoc-article-type
18691 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
18692 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
18693 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
18694 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
18695 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
18697 @item nndoc-post-type
18698 @vindex nndoc-post-type
18699 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
18700 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
18705 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
18709 @node Document Server Internals
18710 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
18712 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
18713 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
18714 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
18715 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
18717 First, here's an example document type definition:
18721 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
18722 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
18725 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
18726 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
18727 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
18728 types can be defined with very few settings:
18731 @item first-article
18732 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
18733 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
18736 @item article-begin
18737 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
18738 says what the beginning of each article looks like. To do more
18739 complicated things that cannot be dealt with a simple regexp, you can
18740 use @code{article-begin-function} instead of this.
18742 @item article-begin-function
18743 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the beginning
18744 of each article. This setting overrides @code{article-begin}.
18747 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
18748 article. To do more complicated things that cannot be dealt with a
18749 simple regexp, you can use @code{head-begin-function} instead of this.
18751 @item head-begin-function
18752 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
18753 the article. This setting overrides @code{head-begin}.
18756 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
18757 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
18760 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
18761 to @samp{^\n}. To do more complicated things that cannot be dealt with
18762 a simple regexp, you can use @code{body-begin-function} instead of this.
18764 @item body-begin-function
18765 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
18766 of the article. This setting overrides @code{body-begin}.
18769 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article. To do
18770 more complicated things that cannot be dealt with a simple regexp, you
18771 can use @code{body-end-function} instead of this.
18773 @item body-end-function
18774 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
18775 the article. This setting overrides @code{body-end}.
18778 If present, this should match the beginning of the file. All text
18779 before this regexp will be totally ignored.
18782 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
18783 regexp will be totally ignored.
18787 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
18788 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
18789 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
18790 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
18791 something that's palatable for Gnus:
18794 @item prepare-body-function
18795 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
18796 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
18797 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
18799 @item article-transform-function
18800 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
18801 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
18802 body of the article.
18804 @item generate-head-function
18805 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
18806 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
18807 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
18808 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
18810 @item generate-article-function
18811 If present, this function is called to generate an entire article that
18812 Gnus can understand. It is called with the article number as a
18813 parameter when requesting all articles.
18815 @item dissection-function
18816 If present, this function is called to dissect a document by itself,
18817 overriding @code{first-article}, @code{article-begin},
18818 @code{article-begin-function}, @code{head-begin},
18819 @code{head-begin-function}, @code{head-end}, @code{body-begin},
18820 @code{body-begin-function}, @code{body-end}, @code{body-end-function},
18821 @code{file-begin}, and @code{file-end}.
18825 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
18830 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
18831 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
18832 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
18833 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
18834 (head-end . "^ ?$")
18835 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
18836 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
18837 (subtype digest guess))
18840 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
18841 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
18842 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
18843 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
18844 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
18846 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
18847 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first
18848 is the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says
18849 where in the document type definition alist to put this definition.
18850 The alist is traversed sequentially, and
18851 @code{nndoc-@var{type}-type-p} is called for a given type @var{type}.
18852 So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document is of
18853 @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
18854 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it
18855 is of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
18856 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number
18857 means low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
18865 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
18866 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
18867 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
18869 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
18870 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
18871 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
18874 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
18875 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
18876 that interested in doing things properly.
18878 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
18879 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
18882 First some terminology:
18887 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
18888 get news and/or mail from.
18891 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
18892 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
18895 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
18899 @item message packets
18900 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
18901 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
18902 default, where @var{x} is a number.
18904 @item response packets
18905 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
18906 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
18907 default, where @var{x} is a number.
18917 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
18918 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
18919 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
18920 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
18923 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
18926 You put the packet in your home directory.
18929 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
18930 the native or secondary server.
18933 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
18934 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
18937 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
18941 You transfer this packet to the server.
18944 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
18947 You then repeat until you die.
18951 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
18952 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
18955 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
18956 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
18957 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
18961 @node SOUP Commands
18962 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
18964 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
18968 @kindex G s b (Group)
18969 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
18970 Pack all unread articles in the current group
18971 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
18972 process/prefix convention.
18975 @kindex G s w (Group)
18976 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
18977 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
18980 @kindex G s s (Group)
18981 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
18982 Send all replies from the replies packet
18983 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
18986 @kindex G s p (Group)
18987 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
18988 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
18991 @kindex G s r (Group)
18992 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
18993 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
18996 @kindex O s (Summary)
18997 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
18998 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
18999 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
19000 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
19005 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
19010 @item gnus-soup-directory
19011 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
19012 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
19013 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
19015 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
19016 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
19017 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
19018 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
19020 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
19021 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
19022 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
19023 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
19025 @item gnus-soup-packer
19026 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
19027 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
19028 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
19030 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
19031 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
19032 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
19033 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
19035 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
19036 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
19037 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
19039 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
19040 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
19041 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
19042 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
19048 @subsubsection SOUP Groups
19051 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
19052 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
19053 you can read them at leisure.
19055 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
19059 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
19060 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
19061 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
19062 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
19064 @item nnsoup-directory
19065 @vindex nnsoup-directory
19066 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
19067 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
19069 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
19070 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
19071 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
19072 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/}.
19074 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
19075 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
19076 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
19077 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
19078 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
19080 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
19081 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
19082 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
19083 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
19085 @item nnsoup-active-file
19086 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
19087 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
19088 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
19089 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
19090 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
19092 @item nnsoup-packer
19093 @vindex nnsoup-packer
19094 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
19095 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
19097 @item nnsoup-unpacker
19098 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
19099 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
19100 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
19102 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
19103 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
19104 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
19107 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
19108 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
19109 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
19112 @item nnsoup-always-save
19113 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
19114 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
19120 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
19122 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
19123 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
19124 more for that to happen.
19126 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
19127 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
19128 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
19131 In specific, this is what it does:
19134 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
19135 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
19138 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
19139 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
19140 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
19143 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
19144 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
19145 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
19148 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
19149 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
19150 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
19152 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
19158 @item nngateway-address
19159 @vindex nngateway-address
19160 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
19162 @item nngateway-header-transformation
19163 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
19164 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
19165 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
19166 transformation should be called, and defaults to
19167 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
19168 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
19171 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
19172 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
19173 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
19176 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
19179 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
19182 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
19185 The following pre-defined functions exist:
19187 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
19190 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
19191 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
19192 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
19194 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
19196 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
19197 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
19198 @code{nngateway-address}.
19206 (setq gnus-post-method
19208 "mail2news@@replay.com"
19209 (nngateway-header-transformation
19210 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
19213 So, to use this, simply say something like:
19216 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
19221 @node Combined Groups
19222 @section Combined Groups
19224 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
19228 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
19229 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
19233 @node Virtual Groups
19234 @subsection Virtual Groups
19236 @cindex virtual groups
19237 @cindex merging groups
19239 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
19242 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
19243 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
19244 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
19246 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
19247 regexp to match component groups.
19249 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
19250 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
19251 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
19252 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
19253 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
19254 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
19255 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
19256 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
19258 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
19259 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
19262 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
19265 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
19266 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
19268 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
19269 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
19270 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
19271 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
19274 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
19277 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
19278 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
19279 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
19281 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
19282 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
19283 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
19284 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
19285 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
19287 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
19288 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
19289 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
19291 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
19292 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} variable is non-@code{nil} (which
19293 is the default), @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread
19294 articles when entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil}
19295 and you read articles in a component group after the virtual group has
19296 been activated, the read articles from the component group will show up
19297 when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this effect if you
19298 have two virtual groups that have a component group in common. If
19299 that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}. Or you can
19300 just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before you enter
19301 it---it'll have much the same effect.
19303 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
19304 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
19305 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
19306 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
19307 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
19308 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
19309 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
19311 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
19312 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
19314 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
19315 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
19319 @node Kibozed Groups
19320 @subsection Kibozed Groups
19324 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by the @acronym{OED} as ``grepping through
19325 (parts of) the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will
19326 do this for you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @acronym{NNTP} server
19327 down to a halt with useless requests! Oh happiness!
19329 @kindex G k (Group)
19330 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
19333 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
19334 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
19335 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between
19336 @code{nnkiboze} and @code{nnvirtual} end.
19338 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an
19339 @code{nnkiboze} group must have a score file to say what articles are
19340 to be included in the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
19342 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
19343 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
19344 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
19345 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time.
19346 Lots of time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the
19347 headers from all the articles in all the component groups and run them
19348 through the scoring process to determine if there are any articles in
19349 the groups that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
19351 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
19352 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
19353 @acronym{NNTP} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
19354 Stranger things have happened.
19356 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
19357 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
19359 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
19360 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
19361 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/kiboze/} by default.
19362 One contains the @acronym{NOV} header lines for all the articles in
19363 the group, and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store
19364 information on what groups have been searched through to find
19365 component articles.
19367 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
19368 their @acronym{NOV} lines removed from the @acronym{NOV} file.
19371 @node Email Based Diary
19372 @section Email Based Diary
19374 @cindex email based diary
19377 This section describes a special mail back end called @code{nndiary},
19378 and its companion library @code{gnus-diary}. It is ``special'' in the
19379 sense that it is not meant to be one of the standard alternatives for
19380 reading mail with Gnus. See @ref{Choosing a Mail Back End} for that.
19381 Instead, it is used to treat @emph{some} of your mails in a special way,
19382 namely, as event reminders.
19384 Here is a typical scenario:
19388 You've got a date with Andy Mc Dowell or Bruce Willis (select according
19389 to your sexual preference) in one month. You don't want to forget it.
19391 So you send a ``reminder'' message (actually, a diary one) to yourself.
19393 You forget all about it and keep on getting and reading new mail, as usual.
19395 From time to time, as you type `g' in the group buffer and as the date
19396 is getting closer, the message will pop up again to remind you of your
19397 appointment, just as if it were new and unread.
19399 Read your ``new'' messages, this one included, and start dreaming again
19400 of the night you're gonna have.
19402 Once the date is over (you actually fell asleep just after dinner), the
19403 message will be automatically deleted if it is marked as expirable.
19406 The Gnus Diary back end has the ability to handle regular appointments
19407 (that wouldn't ever be deleted) as well as punctual ones, operates as a
19408 real mail back end and is configurable in many ways. All of this is
19409 explained in the sections below.
19412 * The NNDiary Back End:: Basic setup and usage.
19413 * The Gnus Diary Library:: Utility toolkit on top of nndiary.
19414 * Sending or Not Sending:: A final note on sending diary messages.
19418 @node The NNDiary Back End
19419 @subsection The NNDiary Back End
19421 @cindex the nndiary back end
19423 @code{nndiary} is a back end very similar to @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
19424 Spool}). Actually, it could appear as a mix of @code{nnml} and
19425 @code{nndraft}. If you know @code{nnml}, you're already familiar with
19426 the message storing scheme of @code{nndiary}: one file per message, one
19427 directory per group.
19429 Before anything, there is one requirement to be able to run
19430 @code{nndiary} properly: you @emph{must} use the group timestamp feature
19431 of Gnus. This adds a timestamp to each group's parameters. @ref{Group
19432 Timestamp} to see how it's done.
19435 * Diary Messages:: What makes a message valid for nndiary.
19436 * Running NNDiary:: NNDiary has two modes of operation.
19437 * Customizing NNDiary:: Bells and whistles.
19440 @node Diary Messages
19441 @subsubsection Diary Messages
19442 @cindex nndiary messages
19443 @cindex nndiary mails
19445 @code{nndiary} messages are just normal ones, except for the mandatory
19446 presence of 7 special headers. These headers are of the form
19447 @code{X-Diary-<something>}, @code{<something>} being one of
19448 @code{Minute}, @code{Hour}, @code{Dom}, @code{Month}, @code{Year},
19449 @code{Time-Zone} and @code{Dow}. @code{Dom} means ``Day of Month'', and
19450 @code{dow} means ``Day of Week''. These headers actually behave like
19451 crontab specifications and define the event date(s):
19455 For all headers except the @code{Time-Zone} one, a header value is
19456 either a star (meaning all possible values), or a list of fields
19457 (separated by a comma).
19459 A field is either an integer, or a range.
19461 A range is two integers separated by a dash.
19463 Possible integer values are 0--59 for @code{Minute}, 0--23 for
19464 @code{Hour}, 1--31 for @code{Dom}, 1--12 for @code{Month}, above 1971
19465 for @code{Year} and 0--6 for @code{Dow} (0 meaning Sunday).
19467 As a special case, a star in either @code{Dom} or @code{Dow} doesn't
19468 mean ``all possible values'', but ``use only the other field''. Note
19469 that if both are star'ed, the use of either one gives the same result.
19471 The @code{Time-Zone} header is special in that it can only have one
19472 value (@code{GMT}, for instance). A star doesn't mean ``all possible
19473 values'' (because it makes no sense), but ``the current local time
19474 zone''. Most of the time, you'll be using a star here. However, for a
19475 list of available time zone values, see the variable
19476 @code{nndiary-headers}.
19479 As a concrete example, here are the diary headers to add to your message
19480 for specifying ``Each Monday and each 1st of month, at 12:00, 20:00,
19481 21:00, 22:00, 23:00 and 24:00, from 1999 to 2010'' (I'll let you find
19486 X-Diary-Hour: 12, 20-24
19489 X-Diary-Year: 1999-2010
19491 X-Diary-Time-Zone: *
19494 @node Running NNDiary
19495 @subsubsection Running NNDiary
19496 @cindex running nndiary
19497 @cindex nndiary operation modes
19499 @code{nndiary} has two modes of operation: ``traditional'' (the default)
19500 and ``autonomous''. In traditional mode, @code{nndiary} does not get new
19501 mail by itself. You have to move (@kbd{B m}) or copy (@kbd{B c}) mails
19502 from your primary mail back end to nndiary groups in order to handle them
19503 as diary messages. In autonomous mode, @code{nndiary} retrieves its own
19504 mail and handles it independently from your primary mail back end.
19506 One should note that Gnus is not inherently designed to allow several
19507 ``master'' mail back ends at the same time. However, this does make
19508 sense with @code{nndiary}: you really want to send and receive diary
19509 messages to your diary groups directly. So, @code{nndiary} supports
19510 being sort of a ``second primary mail back end'' (to my knowledge, it is
19511 the only back end offering this feature). However, there is a limitation
19512 (which I hope to fix some day): respooling doesn't work in autonomous
19515 In order to use @code{nndiary} in autonomous mode, you have several
19520 Allow @code{nndiary} to retrieve new mail by itself. Put the following
19521 line in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
19524 (setq nndiary-get-new-mail t)
19527 You must arrange for diary messages (those containing @code{X-Diary-*}
19528 headers) to be split in a private folder @emph{before} Gnus treat them.
19529 Again, this is needed because Gnus cannot (yet ?) properly handle
19530 multiple primary mail back ends. Getting those messages from a separate
19531 source will compensate this misfeature to some extent.
19533 As an example, here's my procmailrc entry to store diary files in
19534 @file{~/.nndiary} (the default @code{nndiary} mail source file):
19543 Once this is done, you might want to customize the following two options
19544 that affect the diary mail retrieval and splitting processes:
19546 @defvar nndiary-mail-sources
19547 This is the diary-specific replacement for the standard
19548 @code{mail-sources} variable. It obeys the same syntax, and defaults to
19549 @code{(file :path "~/.nndiary")}.
19552 @defvar nndiary-split-methods
19553 This is the diary-specific replacement for the standard
19554 @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable. It obeys the same syntax.
19557 Finally, you may add a permanent @code{nndiary} virtual server
19558 (something like @code{(nndiary "diary")} should do) to your
19559 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}.
19561 Hopefully, almost everything (see the TODO section in
19562 @file{nndiary.el}) will work as expected when you restart Gnus: in
19563 autonomous mode, typing @kbd{g} and @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer, will
19564 also get your new diary mails and split them according to your
19565 diary-specific rules, @kbd{F} will find your new diary groups etc.
19567 @node Customizing NNDiary
19568 @subsubsection Customizing NNDiary
19569 @cindex customizing nndiary
19570 @cindex nndiary customization
19572 Now that @code{nndiary} is up and running, it's time to customize it.
19573 The custom group is called @code{nndiary} (no, really ?!). You should
19574 browse it to figure out which options you'd like to tweak. The following
19575 two variables are probably the only ones you will want to change:
19577 @defvar nndiary-reminders
19578 This is the list of times when you want to be reminded of your
19579 appointments (e.g. 3 weeks before, then 2 days before, then 1 hour
19580 before and that's it). Remember that ``being reminded'' means that the
19581 diary message will pop up as brand new and unread again when you get new
19585 @defvar nndiary-week-starts-on-monday
19586 Rather self-explanatory. Otherwise, Sunday is assumed (this is the
19591 @node The Gnus Diary Library
19592 @subsection The Gnus Diary Library
19594 @cindex the gnus diary library
19596 Using @code{nndiary} manually (I mean, writing the headers by hand and
19597 so on) would be rather boring. Fortunately, there is a library called
19598 @code{gnus-diary} written on top of @code{nndiary}, that does many
19599 useful things for you.
19601 In order to use it, add the following line to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
19604 (require 'gnus-diary)
19607 Also, you shouldn't use any @code{gnus-user-format-function-[d|D]}
19608 (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}). @code{gnus-diary} provides both of these
19609 (sorry if you used them before).
19613 * Diary Summary Line Format:: A nicer summary buffer line format.
19614 * Diary Articles Sorting:: A nicer way to sort messages.
19615 * Diary Headers Generation:: Not doing it manually.
19616 * Diary Group Parameters:: Not handling them manually.
19619 @node Diary Summary Line Format
19620 @subsubsection Diary Summary Line Format
19621 @cindex diary summary buffer line
19622 @cindex diary summary line format
19624 Displaying diary messages in standard summary line format (usually
19625 something like @samp{From Joe: Subject}) is pretty useless. Most of
19626 the time, you're the one who wrote the message, and you mostly want to
19627 see the event's date.
19629 @code{gnus-diary} provides two supplemental user formats to be used in
19630 summary line formats. @code{D} corresponds to a formatted time string
19631 for the next occurrence of the event (e.g. ``Sat, Sep 22 01, 12:00''),
19632 while @code{d} corresponds to an approximative remaining time until the
19633 next occurrence of the event (e.g. ``in 6 months, 1 week'').
19635 For example, here's how Joe's birthday is displayed in my
19636 @code{nndiary+diary:birthdays} summary buffer (note that the message is
19637 expirable, but will never be deleted, as it specifies a periodic event):
19640 E Sat, Sep 22 01, 12:00: Joe's birthday (in 6 months, 1 week)
19643 In order to get something like the above, you would normally add the
19644 following line to your diary groups'parameters:
19647 (gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z %uD: %(%s%) (%ud)\n")
19650 However, @code{gnus-diary} does it automatically (@pxref{Diary Group
19651 Parameters}). You can however customize the provided summary line format
19652 with the following user options:
19654 @defvar gnus-diary-summary-line-format
19655 Defines the summary line format used for diary groups (@pxref{Summary
19656 Buffer Lines}). @code{gnus-diary} uses it to automatically update the
19657 diary groups'parameters.
19660 @defvar gnus-diary-time-format
19661 Defines the format to display dates in diary summary buffers. This is
19662 used by the @code{D} user format. See the docstring for details.
19665 @defvar gnus-diary-delay-format-function
19666 Defines the format function to use for displaying delays (remaining
19667 times) in diary summary buffers. This is used by the @code{d} user
19668 format. There are currently built-in functions for English and French;
19669 you can also define your own. See the docstring for details.
19672 @node Diary Articles Sorting
19673 @subsubsection Diary Articles Sorting
19674 @cindex diary articles sorting
19675 @cindex diary summary lines sorting
19676 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule
19677 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-schedule
19678 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-schedule
19680 @code{gnus-diary} provides new sorting functions (@pxref{Sorting the
19681 Summary Buffer} ) called @code{gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule},
19682 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-schedule} and
19683 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-schedule}. These functions let you organize
19684 your diary summary buffers from the closest event to the farthest one.
19686 @code{gnus-diary} automatically installs
19687 @code{gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule} as a menu item in the summary
19688 buffer's ``sort'' menu, and the two others as the primary (hence
19689 default) sorting functions in the group parameters (@pxref{Diary Group
19692 @node Diary Headers Generation
19693 @subsubsection Diary Headers Generation
19694 @cindex diary headers generation
19695 @findex gnus-diary-check-message
19697 @code{gnus-diary} provides a function called
19698 @code{gnus-diary-check-message} to help you handle the @code{X-Diary-*}
19699 headers. This function ensures that the current message contains all the
19700 required diary headers, and prompts you for values or corrections if
19703 This function is hooked into the @code{nndiary} back end, so that
19704 moving or copying an article to a diary group will trigger it
19705 automatically. It is also bound to @kbd{C-c C-f d} in
19706 @code{message-mode} and @code{article-edit-mode} in order to ease the
19707 process of converting a usual mail to a diary one.
19709 This function takes a prefix argument which will force prompting of
19710 all diary headers, regardless of their presence or validity. That way,
19711 you can very easily reschedule an already valid diary message, for
19714 @node Diary Group Parameters
19715 @subsubsection Diary Group Parameters
19716 @cindex diary group parameters
19718 When you create a new diary group, or visit one, @code{gnus-diary}
19719 automatically checks your group parameters and if needed, sets the
19720 summary line format to the diary-specific value, installs the
19721 diary-specific sorting functions, and also adds the different
19722 @code{X-Diary-*} headers to the group's posting-style. It is then easier
19723 to send a diary message, because if you use @kbd{C-u a} or @kbd{C-u m}
19724 on a diary group to prepare a message, these headers will be inserted
19725 automatically (although not filled with proper values yet).
19727 @node Sending or Not Sending
19728 @subsection Sending or Not Sending
19730 Well, assuming you've read all of the above, here are two final notes on
19731 mail sending with @code{nndiary}:
19735 @code{nndiary} is a @emph{real} mail back end. You really send real diary
19736 messsages for real. This means for instance that you can give
19737 appointments to anybody (provided they use Gnus and @code{nndiary}) by
19738 sending the diary message to them as well.
19740 However, since @code{nndiary} also has a @code{request-post} method, you
19741 can also use @kbd{C-u a} instead of @kbd{C-u m} on a diary group and the
19742 message won't actually be sent; just stored locally in the group. This
19743 comes in very handy for private appointments.
19746 @node Gnus Unplugged
19747 @section Gnus Unplugged
19752 @cindex Gnus unplugged
19754 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
19755 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
19756 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
19757 read news. Believe it or not.
19759 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
19760 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
19761 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
19762 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
19763 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
19765 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
19766 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
19767 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
19768 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
19769 reading news on a machine.
19771 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
19772 fact, you don't have to configure anything as the agent is now enabled
19773 by default (@pxref{Agent Variables, gnus-agent}).
19775 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
19778 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
19779 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
19780 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
19781 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
19782 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
19783 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
19784 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
19785 * Agent and flags:: How the Agent maintains flags.
19786 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
19787 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
19788 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
19789 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
19790 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
19791 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
19796 @subsection Agent Basics
19798 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
19800 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
19801 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
19802 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
19803 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
19805 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
19806 connected to the net continuously.
19808 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
19809 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
19811 You know that Gnus gives you all the opportunity you'd ever want for
19812 shooting yourself in the foot. Some people call it flexibility. Gnus
19813 is also customizable to a great extent, which means that the user has a
19814 say on how Gnus behaves. Other newsreaders might unconditionally shoot
19815 you in your foot, but with Gnus, you have a choice!
19817 Gnus is never really in plugged or unplugged state. Rather, it applies
19818 that state to each server individually. This means that some servers
19819 can be plugged while others can be unplugged. Additionally, some
19820 servers can be ignored by the Agent altogether (which means that
19821 they're kinda like plugged always).
19823 So when you unplug the Agent and then wonder why is Gnus opening a
19824 connection to the Net, the next step to do is to look whether all
19825 servers are agentized. If there is an unagentized server, you found
19828 Another thing is the @dfn{offline} state. Sometimes, servers aren't
19829 reachable. When Gnus notices this, it asks you whether you want the
19830 server to be switched to offline state. If you say yes, then the
19831 server will behave somewhat as if it was unplugged, except that Gnus
19832 will ask you whether you want to switch it back online again.
19834 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
19839 @findex gnus-unplugged
19840 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
19841 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
19842 already fetched while in this mode.
19845 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
19846 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
19847 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
19848 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode (@pxref{Mail
19849 Source Specifiers}).
19852 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the
19853 news onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press
19854 @kbd{g} to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J s} to fetch
19855 all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus know which
19856 articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}).
19859 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
19860 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
19861 then you read the news offline.
19864 And then you go to step 2.
19867 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
19873 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
19874 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
19875 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
19876 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
19877 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
19878 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
19879 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} servers in @code{gnus-select-method} and
19880 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
19883 Decide on download policy. It's fairly simple once you decide whether
19884 you are going to use agent categories, topic parameters, and/or group
19885 parameters to implement your policy. If you're new to gnus, it
19886 is probably best to start with a category, @xref{Agent Categories}.
19888 Both topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) and agent categories
19889 (@pxref{Agent Categories}) provide for setting a policy that applies
19890 to multiple groups. Which you use is entirely up to you. Topic
19891 parameters do override categories so, if you mix the two, you'll have
19892 to take that into account. If you have a few groups that deviate from
19893 your policy, you can use group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to
19897 Uhm@dots{} that's it.
19901 @node Agent Categories
19902 @subsection Agent Categories
19904 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
19905 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
19906 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
19907 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
19908 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
19909 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
19910 you're interested in the articles anyway.
19912 One of the more effective methods for controlling what is to be
19913 downloaded is to create a @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all)
19914 groups to this category. Groups that do not belong in any other
19915 category belong to the @code{default} category. Gnus has its own
19916 buffer for creating and managing categories.
19918 If you prefer, you can also use group parameters (@pxref{Group
19919 Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) for an
19920 alternative approach to controlling the agent. The only real
19921 difference is that categories are specific to the agent (so there is
19922 less to learn) while group and topic parameters include the kitchen
19925 Since you can set agent parameters in several different places we have
19926 a rule to decide which source to believe. This rule specifies that
19927 the parameter sources are checked in the following order: group
19928 parameters, topic parameters, agent category, and finally customizable
19929 variables. So you can mix all of these sources to produce a wide range
19930 of behavior, just don't blame me if you don't remember where you put
19934 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
19935 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
19936 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
19940 @node Category Syntax
19941 @subsubsection Category Syntax
19943 A category consists of a name, the list of groups belonging to the
19944 category, and a number of optional parameters that override the
19945 customizable variables. The complete list of agent parameters are
19948 @cindex Agent Parameters
19951 The list of groups that are in this category.
19953 @item agent-predicate
19954 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
19955 are eligible for downloading; and
19958 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
19959 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
19960 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
19962 @item agent-enable-expiration
19963 a boolean indicating whether the agent should expire old articles in
19964 this group. Most groups should be expired to conserve disk space. In
19965 fact, its probably safe to say that the gnus.* hierarchy contains the
19966 only groups that should not be expired.
19968 @item agent-days-until-old
19969 an integer indicating the number of days that the agent should wait
19970 before deciding that a read article is safe to expire.
19972 @item agent-low-score
19973 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-low-score}.
19975 @item agent-high-score
19976 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-high-score}.
19978 @item agent-short-article
19979 an integer that overrides the value of
19980 @code{gnus-agent-short-article}.
19982 @item agent-long-article
19983 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-long-article}.
19985 @item agent-enable-undownloaded-faces
19986 a symbol indicating whether the summary buffer should display
19987 undownloaded articles using the @code{gnus-summary-*-undownloaded-face}
19988 faces. Any symbol other than @code{nil} will enable the use of
19989 undownloaded faces.
19992 The name of a category can not be changed once the category has been
19995 Each category maintains a list of groups that are exclusive members of
19996 that category. The exclusivity rule is automatically enforced, add a
19997 group to a new category and it is automatically removed from its old
20000 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
20001 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
20002 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
20003 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
20005 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
20006 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
20007 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
20009 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
20010 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
20011 operators sprinkled in between.
20013 Perhaps some examples are in order.
20015 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
20016 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
20022 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
20023 short (for some value of ``short'').
20025 Here's a more complex predicate:
20034 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
20035 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
20038 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
20039 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
20040 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
20042 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
20043 you want to do, you can write your own.
20045 When evaluating each of these predicates, the named constant will be
20046 bound to the value determined by calling
20047 @code{gnus-agent-find-parameter} on the appropriate parameter. For
20048 example, gnus-agent-short-article will be bound to
20049 @code{(gnus-agent-find-parameter group 'agent-short-article)}. This
20050 means that you can specify a predicate in your category then tune that
20051 predicate to individual groups.
20055 True if the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
20056 lines; default 100.
20059 True if the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
20060 lines; default 200.
20063 True if the article has a download score less than
20064 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
20067 True if the article has a download score greater than
20068 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
20071 True if the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
20072 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
20073 checksum and sees whether articles match.
20082 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
20083 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
20084 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
20087 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
20088 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
20089 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
20090 something along the lines of the following:
20093 (defun my-article-old-p ()
20094 "Say whether an article is old."
20095 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
20096 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
20099 with the predicate then defined as:
20102 (not my-article-old-p)
20105 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
20106 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
20110 (require 'gnus-agent)
20111 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
20112 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
20113 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
20116 and simply specify your predicate as:
20122 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
20123 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
20124 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
20125 just don't give a damn.
20127 The above predicates apply to @emph{all} the groups which belong to the
20128 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
20129 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
20130 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in its group
20131 parameters like so:
20134 (agent-predicate . short)
20137 This is the group/topic parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
20138 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
20139 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
20141 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
20144 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
20147 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
20148 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
20149 predicate is assumed to be a list.
20152 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
20153 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
20154 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
20155 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
20156 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
20157 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
20159 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
20160 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
20161 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
20162 if it's to be specific to that group.
20164 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
20171 This has the same syntax as a normal Gnus score file except only a
20172 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
20178 Category specification
20182 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
20188 Group/Topic Parameter specification
20191 (agent-score ("from"
20192 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
20197 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
20203 These score files must @emph{only} contain the permitted scoring
20204 keywords stated above.
20210 Category specification
20213 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
20219 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
20223 Group Parameter specification
20226 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
20229 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
20234 Use @code{normal} score files
20236 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
20237 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
20238 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
20239 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
20241 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
20242 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
20243 files for a group, @emph{filtering out} those sections that do not
20244 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
20248 Category Specification
20255 Group Parameter specification
20258 (agent-score . file)
20263 @node Category Buffer
20264 @subsubsection Category Buffer
20266 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
20267 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
20268 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
20270 The following commands are available in this buffer:
20274 @kindex q (Category)
20275 @findex gnus-category-exit
20276 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
20279 @kindex e (Category)
20280 @findex gnus-category-customize-category
20281 Use a customization buffer to set all of the selected category's
20282 parameters at one time (@code{gnus-category-customize-category}).
20285 @kindex k (Category)
20286 @findex gnus-category-kill
20287 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
20290 @kindex c (Category)
20291 @findex gnus-category-copy
20292 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
20295 @kindex a (Category)
20296 @findex gnus-category-add
20297 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
20300 @kindex p (Category)
20301 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
20302 Edit the predicate of the current category
20303 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
20306 @kindex g (Category)
20307 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
20308 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
20309 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
20312 @kindex s (Category)
20313 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
20314 Edit the download score rule of the current category
20315 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
20318 @kindex l (Category)
20319 @findex gnus-category-list
20320 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
20324 @node Category Variables
20325 @subsubsection Category Variables
20328 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
20329 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
20330 Hook run in category buffers.
20332 @item gnus-category-line-format
20333 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
20334 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
20335 Variables}). Valid elements are:
20339 The name of the category.
20342 The number of groups in the category.
20345 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
20346 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
20347 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
20349 @item gnus-agent-short-article
20350 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
20351 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
20353 @item gnus-agent-long-article
20354 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
20355 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
20357 @item gnus-agent-low-score
20358 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
20359 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
20362 @item gnus-agent-high-score
20363 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
20364 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
20367 @item gnus-agent-expire-days
20368 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
20369 The number of days that a @samp{read} article must stay in the agent's
20370 local disk before becoming eligible for expiration (While the name is
20371 the same, this doesn't mean expiring the article on the server. It
20372 just means deleting the local copy of the article). What is also
20373 important to understand is that the counter starts with the time the
20374 article was written to the local disk and not the time the article was
20378 @item gnus-agent-enable-expiration
20379 @vindex gnus-agent-enable-expiration
20380 Determines whether articles in a group are, by default, expired or
20381 retained indefinitely. The default is @code{ENABLE} which means that
20382 you'll have to disable expiration when desired. On the other hand,
20383 you could set this to @code{DISABLE}. In that case, you would then
20384 have to enable expiration in selected groups.
20389 @node Agent Commands
20390 @subsection Agent Commands
20391 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-plugged
20392 @kindex J j (Agent)
20394 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
20395 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
20396 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
20400 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
20401 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
20402 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
20408 @node Group Agent Commands
20409 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
20413 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
20414 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
20415 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
20416 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
20419 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
20420 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
20421 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
20424 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
20425 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
20426 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
20427 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
20430 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
20431 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
20432 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
20433 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
20436 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
20437 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
20438 Add the current group to an Agent category
20439 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
20440 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
20443 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
20444 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
20445 Remove the current group from its category, if any
20446 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
20447 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
20450 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
20451 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
20452 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
20458 @node Summary Agent Commands
20459 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
20463 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
20464 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
20465 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
20468 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
20469 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
20470 Remove the downloading mark from the article
20471 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
20475 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
20476 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
20477 Toggle whether to download the article
20478 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The download mark is @samp{%} by
20482 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
20483 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
20484 Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
20487 @kindex J S (Agent Summary)
20488 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
20489 Download all eligible (@pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
20490 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
20493 @kindex J s (Agent Summary)
20494 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-series
20495 Download all processable articles in this group.
20496 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-series}).
20499 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
20500 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
20501 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
20502 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
20507 @node Server Agent Commands
20508 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
20512 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
20513 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
20514 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
20515 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
20518 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
20519 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
20520 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
20521 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
20526 @node Agent Visuals
20527 @subsection Agent Visuals
20529 If you open a summary while unplugged and, Gnus knows from the group's
20530 active range that there are more articles than the headers currently
20531 stored in the Agent, you may see some articles whose subject looks
20532 something like @samp{[Undownloaded article #####]}. These are
20533 placeholders for the missing headers. Aside from setting a mark,
20534 there is not much that can be done with one of these placeholders.
20535 When Gnus finally gets a chance to fetch the group's headers, the
20536 placeholders will automatically be replaced by the actual headers.
20537 You can configure the summary buffer's maneuvering to skip over the
20538 placeholders if you care (See @code{gnus-auto-goto-ignores}).
20540 While it may be obvious to all, the only headers and articles
20541 available while unplugged are those headers and articles that were
20542 fetched into the Agent while previously plugged. To put it another
20543 way, ``If you forget to fetch something while plugged, you might have a
20544 less than satisfying unplugged session''. For this reason, the Agent
20545 adds two visual effects to your summary buffer. These effects display
20546 the download status of each article so that you always know which
20547 articles will be available when unplugged.
20549 The first visual effect is the @samp{%O} spec. If you customize
20550 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} to include this specifier, you will add
20551 a single character field that indicates an article's download status.
20552 Articles that have been fetched into either the Agent or the Cache,
20553 will display @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} (defaults to @samp{+}). All
20554 other articles will display @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} (defaults to
20555 @samp{-}). If you open a group that has not been agentized, a space
20556 (@samp{ }) will be displayed.
20558 The second visual effect are the undownloaded faces. The faces, there
20559 are three indicating the article's score (low, normal, high), seem to
20560 result in a love/hate response from many Gnus users. The problem is
20561 that the face selection is controlled by a list of condition tests and
20562 face names (See @code{gnus-summary-highlight}). Each condition is
20563 tested in the order in which it appears in the list so early
20564 conditions have precedence over later conditions. All of this means
20565 that, if you tick an undownloaded article, the article will continue
20566 to be displayed in the undownloaded face rather than the ticked face.
20568 If you use the Agent as a cache (to avoid downloading the same article
20569 each time you visit it or to minimize your connection time), the
20570 undownloaded face will probably seem like a good idea. The reason
20571 being that you do all of our work (marking, reading, deleting) with
20572 downloaded articles so the normal faces always appear. For those
20573 users using the agent to improve online performance by caching the NOV
20574 database (most users since 5.10.2), the undownloaded faces may appear
20575 to be an absolutely horrible idea. The issue being that, since none
20576 of their articles have been fetched into the Agent, all of the
20577 normal faces will be obscured by the undownloaded faces.
20579 If you would like to use the undownloaded faces, you must enable the
20580 undownloaded faces by setting the @code{agent-enable-undownloaded-faces}
20581 group parameter to @code{t}. This parameter, like all other agent
20582 parameters, may be set on an Agent Category (@pxref{Agent Categories}),
20583 a Group Topic (@pxref{Topic Parameters}), or an individual group
20584 (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
20586 The one problem common to all users using the agent is how quickly it
20587 can consume disk space. If you using the agent on many groups, it is
20588 even more difficult to effectively recover disk space. One solution
20589 is the @samp{%F} format available in @code{gnus-group-line-format}.
20590 This format will display the actual disk space used by articles
20591 fetched into both the agent and cache. By knowing which groups use
20592 the most space, users know where to focus their efforts when ``agent
20593 expiring'' articles.
20595 @node Agent as Cache
20596 @subsection Agent as Cache
20598 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
20599 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
20600 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
20601 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
20602 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
20603 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
20604 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
20605 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
20606 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
20608 If you so desire, you can configure the agent (see @code{gnus-agent-cache}
20609 @pxref{Agent Variables}) to always download headers and articles while
20610 plugged. Gnus will almost certainly be slower, but it will be kept
20611 synchronized with the server. That last point probably won't make any
20612 sense if you are using a nntp or nnimap back end.
20615 @subsection Agent Expiry
20617 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
20618 @findex gnus-agent-expire
20619 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
20620 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire-group
20621 @findex gnus-agent-expire-group
20622 @cindex agent expiry
20623 @cindex Gnus agent expiry
20624 @cindex expiry, in Gnus agent
20626 The Agent back end, @code{nnagent}, doesn't handle expiry. Well, at
20627 least it doesn't handle it like other back ends. Instead, there are
20628 special @code{gnus-agent-expire} and @code{gnus-agent-expire-group}
20629 commands that will expire all read articles that are older than
20630 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. They can be run whenever you feel
20631 that you're running out of space. Neither are particularly fast or
20632 efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to interrupt them (with
20633 @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started one of them.
20635 Note that other functions, e.g. @code{gnus-request-expire-articles},
20636 might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you to keep the agent
20637 synchronized with the group.
20639 The agent parameter @code{agent-enable-expiration} may be used to
20640 prevent expiration in selected groups.
20642 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
20643 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, the agent
20644 expiration commands will expire all articles---unread, read, ticked
20645 and dormant. If @code{nil} (which is the default), only read articles
20646 are eligible for expiry, and unread, ticked and dormant articles will
20647 be kept indefinitely.
20649 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
20650 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's are special
20651 commands, @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} and
20652 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group}, to fix possible problems.
20654 @node Agent Regeneration
20655 @subsection Agent Regeneration
20657 @cindex agent regeneration
20658 @cindex Gnus agent regeneration
20659 @cindex regeneration
20661 The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
20662 due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
20663 @code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
20664 to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
20665 internal inconsistencies.
20667 For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
20668 downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
20669 know about articles successfully downloaded prior to the connection
20670 failure. Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
20671 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
20672 such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
20674 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
20675 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
20676 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
20677 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
20678 you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
20679 recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
20681 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
20682 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
20683 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
20684 of individual articles to repair the local @acronym{NOV}(header) database. It
20685 then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
20686 are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
20689 @node Agent and flags
20690 @subsection Agent and flags
20692 The Agent works with any Gnus back end including those, such as
20693 nnimap, that store flags (read, ticked, etc) on the server. Sadly,
20694 the Agent does not actually know which backends keep their flags in
20695 the backend server rather than in @file{.newsrc}. This means that the
20696 Agent, while unplugged or disconnected, will always record all changes
20697 to the flags in its own files.
20699 When you plug back in, Gnus will then check to see if you have any
20700 changed any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the
20701 server. This behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
20703 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
20704 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
20705 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
20706 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
20707 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
20708 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
20710 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
20711 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
20712 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
20713 in the group buffer.
20715 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by ``pushing''
20716 all local flags to the server, but rather by incrementally updated the
20717 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
20718 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on an article, quit the group then
20719 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
20720 removed from the server when you ``synchronize''. The queued flag
20721 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
20722 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
20724 @node Agent and IMAP
20725 @subsection Agent and IMAP
20727 The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
20728 since there are some conceptual differences between @acronym{NNTP} and
20729 @acronym{IMAP}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
20730 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @acronym{IMAP} Disconnected Mode client.
20732 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
20733 expect from a disconnected @acronym{IMAP} client, including:
20738 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
20741 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
20745 @node Outgoing Messages
20746 @subsection Outgoing Messages
20748 By default, when Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail
20749 and news) are stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}).
20750 You can view them there after posting, and edit them at will.
20752 You can control the circumstances under which outgoing mail is queued
20753 (see @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail}, @pxref{Agent Variables}). Outgoing
20754 news is always queued when Gnus is unplugged, and never otherwise.
20756 You can send the messages either from the draft group with the special
20757 commands available there, or you can use the @kbd{J S} command in the
20758 group buffer to send all the sendable messages in the draft group.
20759 Posting news will only work when Gnus is plugged, but you can send
20762 If sending mail while unplugged does not work for you and you worry
20763 about hitting @kbd{J S} by accident when unplugged, you can have Gnus
20764 ask you to confirm your action (see
20765 @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue}, @pxref{Agent Variables}).
20767 @node Agent Variables
20768 @subsection Agent Variables
20773 Is the agent enabled? The default is @code{t}. When first enabled,
20774 the agent will use @code{gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods} to
20775 automatically mark some back ends as agentized. You may change which
20776 back ends are agentized using the agent commands in the server buffer.
20778 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
20779 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
20782 @item gnus-agent-directory
20783 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
20784 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
20785 @file{~/News/agent/}.
20787 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
20788 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
20789 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
20790 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
20791 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
20794 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
20795 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
20796 Hook run when connecting to the network.
20798 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
20799 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
20800 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
20802 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
20803 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
20804 Hook run when finished fetching articles.
20806 @item gnus-agent-cache
20807 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
20808 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @acronym{NOV} and
20809 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
20810 The default is non-@code{nil}, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
20812 @item gnus-agent-go-online
20813 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
20814 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
20815 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
20816 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
20817 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
20818 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
20821 @item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
20822 @vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
20823 If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
20824 mark articles as unread after downloading. This is usually a safe
20825 thing to do as the newly downloaded article has obviously not been
20826 read. The default is @code{t}.
20828 @item gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
20829 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
20830 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
20831 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
20832 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
20833 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
20834 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
20836 @item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
20837 @vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
20838 If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
20839 agent will let the agent predicate decide whether articles need to be
20840 downloaded or not, for all articles. When @code{nil}, the default,
20841 the agent will only let the predicate decide whether unread articles
20842 are downloaded or not. If you enable this, you may also want to look
20843 into the agent expiry settings (@pxref{Category Variables}), so that
20844 the agent doesn't download articles which the agent will later expire,
20845 over and over again.
20847 @item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
20848 @vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
20849 The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
20850 them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
20851 the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
20852 have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
20853 limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
20854 performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
20855 connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
20856 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
20857 However, all articles parsed prior to loosing the connection will be
20858 available while unplugged). The default is 10M so it is unusual to
20861 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
20862 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
20863 Perhaps not an Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
20864 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
20865 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
20866 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
20867 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
20868 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
20869 is only valid if the Agent is used.
20871 @item gnus-auto-goto-ignores
20872 @vindex gnus-auto-goto-ignores
20873 Another variable that isn't an Agent variable, yet so closely related
20874 that most will look for it here, this variable tells the summary
20875 buffer how to maneuver around undownloaded (only headers stored in the
20876 agent) and unfetched (neither article nor headers stored) articles.
20878 The valid values are @code{nil} (maneuver to any article),
20879 @code{undownloaded} (maneuvering while unplugged ignores articles that
20880 have not been fetched), @code{always-undownloaded} (maneuvering always
20881 ignores articles that have not been fetched), @code{unfetched}
20882 (maneuvering ignores articles whose headers have not been fetched).
20884 @item gnus-agent-queue-mail
20885 @vindex gnus-agent-queue-mail
20886 When @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail} is @code{always}, Gnus will always
20887 queue mail rather than sending it straight away. When @code{t}, Gnus
20888 will queue mail when unplugged only. When @code{nil}, never queue
20889 mail. The default is @code{t}.
20891 @item gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
20892 @vindex gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
20893 When @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue} is non-@code{nil} Gnus will
20894 prompt you to confirm that you really wish to proceed if you hit
20895 @kbd{J S} while unplugged. The default is @code{nil}.
20897 @item gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
20898 @vindex gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
20899 If you have never used the Agent before (or more technically, if
20900 @file{~/News/agent/lib/servers} does not exist), Gnus will
20901 automatically agentize a few servers for you. This variable control
20902 which back ends should be auto-agentized. It is typically only useful
20903 to agentize remote back ends. The auto-agentizing has the same effect
20904 as running @kbd{J a} on the servers (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}).
20905 If the file exist, you must manage the servers manually by adding or
20906 removing them, this variable is only applicable the first time you
20907 start Gnus. The default is @samp{(nntp nnimap)}.
20912 @node Example Setup
20913 @subsection Example Setup
20915 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
20916 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
20917 @file{~/.gnus.el} file to get started.
20920 ;; @r{Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @acronym{NNTP}}
20921 ;; @r{from your ISP's server.}
20922 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
20924 ;; @r{Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from}
20925 ;; @r{your ISP's @acronym{POP} server.}
20926 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
20928 ;; @r{Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.}
20929 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
20931 ;; @r{Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.}
20932 ;; (gnus-agentize) ; @r{The obsolete setting.}
20933 ;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; @r{Now the default.}
20936 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
20937 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
20940 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
20941 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
20942 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
20943 @acronym{NNTP} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
20944 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
20947 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
20948 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
20949 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
20950 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
20951 back all the killed groups.)
20953 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
20954 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
20955 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
20958 @node Batching Agents
20959 @subsection Batching Agents
20960 @findex gnus-agent-batch
20962 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
20963 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
20964 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
20966 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
20967 following incantation:
20971 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
20975 @node Agent Caveats
20976 @subsection Agent Caveats
20978 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
20979 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
20983 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
20985 @strong{No}. If you want this behavior, add
20986 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
20987 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
20989 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in
20990 the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
20992 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is @code{nil}.
20996 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
20997 articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
20998 locally stored articles.
21005 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
21006 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
21007 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
21010 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
21011 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
21012 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
21013 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
21014 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
21016 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
21017 before generating the summary buffer.
21019 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
21020 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
21021 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
21023 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
21024 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
21025 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
21026 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
21029 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
21030 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
21031 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
21032 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
21033 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
21034 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
21035 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
21036 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
21037 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
21038 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
21039 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
21040 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
21041 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
21042 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
21043 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
21044 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
21048 @node Summary Score Commands
21049 @section Summary Score Commands
21050 @cindex score commands
21052 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
21053 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
21054 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
21055 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
21056 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
21058 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
21059 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
21060 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
21061 score file the current one.
21063 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
21068 @kindex V s (Summary)
21069 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
21070 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
21073 @kindex V S (Summary)
21074 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
21075 Display the score of the current article
21076 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
21079 @kindex V t (Summary)
21080 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
21081 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
21082 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}). In the @code{*Score Trace*} buffer, you
21083 may type @kbd{e} to edit score file corresponding to the score rule on
21084 current line and @kbd{f} to format (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) the
21085 score file and edit it.
21088 @kindex V w (Summary)
21089 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
21090 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
21093 @kindex V R (Summary)
21094 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
21095 Run the current summary through the scoring process
21096 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
21097 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
21098 effect you're having.
21101 @kindex V c (Summary)
21102 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
21103 Make a different score file the current
21104 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
21107 @kindex V e (Summary)
21108 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
21109 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
21110 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
21114 @kindex V f (Summary)
21115 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
21116 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
21117 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
21120 @kindex V F (Summary)
21121 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
21122 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
21123 after editing score files.
21126 @kindex V C (Summary)
21127 @findex gnus-score-customize
21128 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
21129 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
21133 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
21138 @kindex V m (Summary)
21139 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
21140 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
21141 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
21144 @kindex V x (Summary)
21145 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
21146 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
21147 expunge all articles below this score
21148 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
21151 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
21152 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
21155 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
21156 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
21160 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
21161 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
21163 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
21164 keys are available:
21168 Score on the author name.
21171 Score on the subject line.
21174 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
21177 Score on the @code{References} line.
21183 Score on the number of lines.
21186 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
21189 Score on an ``extra'' header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
21190 if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
21193 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
21194 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
21195 @file{ADAPT} files.)
21204 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
21210 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
21211 what headers you are scoring on.
21223 Substring matching.
21226 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
21255 Greater than number.
21260 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
21261 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
21262 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
21267 Temporary score entry.
21270 Permanent score entry.
21273 Immediately scoring.
21277 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
21278 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
21279 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
21283 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
21284 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
21285 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
21286 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
21288 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
21289 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
21290 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
21291 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
21292 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
21294 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
21295 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
21296 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
21297 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
21298 current score file.
21300 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
21301 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
21302 pretend they are keymaps or not.
21305 @node Group Score Commands
21306 @section Group Score Commands
21307 @cindex group score commands
21309 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
21314 @kindex W e (Group)
21315 @findex gnus-score-edit-all-score
21316 Edit the apply-to-all-groups all.SCORE file. You will be popped into
21317 a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score File Editing}).
21320 @kindex W f (Group)
21321 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
21322 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
21323 all the time. This command will flush the cache
21324 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
21328 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
21330 @findex gnus-batch-score
21331 @cindex batch scoring
21333 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
21337 @node Score Variables
21338 @section Score Variables
21339 @cindex score variables
21343 @item gnus-use-scoring
21344 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
21345 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
21346 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
21348 @item gnus-kill-killed
21349 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
21350 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
21351 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
21352 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
21353 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
21354 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
21355 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
21357 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
21358 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
21359 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
21360 initialized from the @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
21361 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
21363 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
21364 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
21365 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
21366 (@file{SCORE} by default.)
21368 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
21369 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
21370 @cindex score cache
21371 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
21372 score files. However, this might make your Emacs grow big and
21373 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely
21374 to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
21375 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
21376 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
21377 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
21380 @item gnus-save-score
21381 @vindex gnus-save-score
21382 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
21383 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
21384 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
21386 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
21387 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
21388 across group visits.
21390 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
21391 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
21392 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
21393 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
21394 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
21395 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
21396 manually entered data.
21398 @item gnus-summary-default-score
21399 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
21400 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
21402 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
21403 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
21404 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
21405 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
21406 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
21407 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
21409 @item gnus-score-over-mark
21410 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
21411 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
21412 default. Default is @samp{+}.
21414 @item gnus-score-below-mark
21415 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
21416 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
21417 default. Default is @samp{-}.
21419 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
21420 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
21421 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
21422 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
21424 Predefined functions available are:
21427 @item gnus-score-find-single
21428 @findex gnus-score-find-single
21429 Only apply the group's own score file.
21431 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
21432 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
21433 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
21434 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
21435 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
21436 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
21437 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
21438 then a regexp match is done.
21440 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
21441 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
21443 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
21444 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
21445 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
21446 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
21448 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
21449 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
21450 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
21451 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
21452 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
21456 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
21457 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
21458 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
21459 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
21460 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
21461 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
21462 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
21465 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
21466 overall score file, you could use the value
21468 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
21469 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
21472 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
21473 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
21474 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
21475 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
21476 are expired. It's 7 by default.
21478 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
21479 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
21480 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
21481 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
21482 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
21483 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
21484 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
21485 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
21487 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
21488 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
21489 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
21491 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
21492 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
21493 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be
21494 simplified for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
21495 threading---according to the current value of
21496 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions}. If the scoring entry uses
21497 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
21498 simplified in this manner.
21503 @node Score File Format
21504 @section Score File Format
21505 @cindex score file format
21507 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
21508 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
21509 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
21511 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
21515 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
21517 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
21519 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
21521 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
21526 (mark-and-expunge -10)
21530 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
21531 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
21532 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
21533 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
21537 This example demonstrates most score file elements. @xref{Advanced
21538 Scoring}, for a different approach.
21540 Even though this looks much like Lisp code, nothing here is actually
21541 @code{eval}ed. The Lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
21542 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
21544 Six keys are supported by this alist:
21549 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
21550 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
21551 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
21552 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
21553 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
21554 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
21555 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
21556 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
21557 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
21558 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
21559 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
21560 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
21561 to articles that matches these score entries.
21563 Following this key is an arbitrary number of score entries, where each
21564 score entry has one to four elements.
21568 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
21569 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
21573 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
21574 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
21575 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
21576 is successful. If this element is not present, the
21577 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
21578 instead. This is 1000 by default.
21581 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
21582 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
21583 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
21584 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
21585 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
21588 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
21589 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
21590 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
21591 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
21594 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
21595 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
21596 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
21597 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
21598 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
21599 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
21600 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
21601 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
21602 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
21603 instead, if you feel like.
21606 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
21607 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
21608 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
21609 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
21610 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin
21611 host, if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks @samp{NNTP-Posting-Host} in
21615 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s
21616 "NNTP-Posting-Host")
21620 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
21621 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
21623 These predicates are true if
21626 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
21629 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
21630 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
21637 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
21638 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
21639 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
21640 it's not. I think.)
21642 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
21643 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
21644 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
21645 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
21648 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
21649 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
21650 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
21651 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
21652 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
21653 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
21654 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
21658 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
21659 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
21660 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
21661 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
21662 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
21663 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
21664 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
21665 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
21668 @item Head, Body, All
21669 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
21673 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
21674 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
21675 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
21676 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
21677 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
21678 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
21679 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
21683 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
21684 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
21685 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
21686 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
21687 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
21688 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
21689 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
21690 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
21691 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
21692 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
21693 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
21697 @cindex score file atoms
21699 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
21700 lower than this number will be marked as read.
21703 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
21704 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
21706 @item mark-and-expunge
21707 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
21708 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
21711 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
21712 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
21713 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
21714 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
21715 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
21718 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
21719 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
21722 @item exclude-files
21723 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
21724 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
21728 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
21729 ignored when handling global score files.
21732 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
21733 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
21734 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
21735 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
21738 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
21739 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
21740 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
21741 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
21743 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
21747 (mark-and-expunge -100)
21750 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
21751 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
21752 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
21753 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
21754 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
21756 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
21757 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
21758 scoring rules exist.
21761 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
21762 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
21763 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
21764 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
21765 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
21766 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
21767 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
21768 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
21769 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
21770 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
21771 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
21775 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
21776 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
21777 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
21778 file for a number of groups.
21781 @cindex local variables
21782 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(@var{var}
21783 @var{value})} pairs. Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the
21784 current summary buffer, and set to the value specified. This is a
21785 convenient, if somewhat strange, way of setting variables in some
21786 groups if you don't like hooks much. Note that the @var{value} won't
21791 @node Score File Editing
21792 @section Score File Editing
21794 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
21795 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
21796 with a mode for that.
21798 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
21799 additional commands:
21804 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
21805 @findex gnus-score-edit-exit
21806 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
21807 (@code{gnus-score-edit-exit}).
21810 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
21811 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
21812 Insert the current date in numerical format
21813 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
21814 you were wondering.
21817 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
21818 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
21819 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
21820 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
21821 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
21826 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
21828 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
21829 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
21831 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f}, @kbd{V e} and
21832 @kbd{V t} to begin editing score files.
21835 @node Adaptive Scoring
21836 @section Adaptive Scoring
21837 @cindex adaptive scoring
21839 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
21840 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
21841 stupidity, to be precise.
21843 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
21844 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
21845 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
21846 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
21847 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
21848 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
21849 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
21850 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
21851 variable to @code{(word line)}.
21853 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
21854 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
21855 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
21856 might look something like this:
21859 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
21860 '((gnus-unread-mark)
21861 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
21862 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
21863 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
21864 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
21865 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
21866 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
21867 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
21868 (gnus-ancient-mark)
21869 (gnus-low-score-mark)
21870 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
21873 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
21874 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
21875 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
21876 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
21877 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
21878 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
21881 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
21882 will be applied to each article.
21884 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
21885 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{e}) will have a
21886 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
21887 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
21889 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
21890 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
21891 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
21892 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
21894 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
21895 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
21896 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
21897 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
21899 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
21900 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
21901 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
21902 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
21903 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
21904 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
21906 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
21907 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
21908 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
21910 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
21911 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
21912 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
21914 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
21915 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
21916 let you use different rules in different groups.
21918 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
21919 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
21920 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
21923 @vindex gnus-adaptive-pretty-print
21924 Adaptive score files can get huge and are not meant to be edited by
21925 human hands. If @code{gnus-adaptive-pretty-print} is @code{nil} (the
21926 deafult) those files will not be written in a human readable way.
21928 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
21929 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
21930 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
21931 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
21932 the length of the match is less than
21933 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
21934 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
21937 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
21938 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
21939 headers. If you adapt on words, the
21940 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
21941 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
21944 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
21945 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
21946 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
21947 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
21948 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
21951 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
21952 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
21953 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
21954 score with 30 points.
21956 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
21957 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
21958 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
21959 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
21960 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
21962 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
21963 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
21964 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
21965 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
21966 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
21968 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
21969 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
21970 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
21971 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
21973 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
21974 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
21975 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
21976 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
21978 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
21979 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
21980 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
21981 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
21982 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
21984 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
21985 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
21986 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
21988 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
21989 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
21990 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
21991 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
21994 @node Home Score File
21995 @section Home Score File
21997 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
21998 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
21999 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
22000 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
22002 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
22003 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
22004 could perhaps use the same home score file.
22006 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
22007 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
22012 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
22016 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
22017 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
22021 A list. The elements in this list can be:
22025 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
22026 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
22029 A function. If the function returns non-@code{nil}, the result will
22030 be used as the home score file. The function will be called with the
22031 name of the group as the parameter.
22034 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
22037 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
22042 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
22045 (setq gnus-home-score-file
22046 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
22049 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
22050 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
22052 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
22054 (setq gnus-home-score-file
22055 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
22058 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
22059 Other functions include
22062 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
22063 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
22064 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
22065 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
22069 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
22070 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
22071 their own home score files:
22074 (setq gnus-home-score-file
22075 ;; @r{All groups that match the regexp @code{"\\.emacs"}}
22076 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
22077 ;; @r{All the comp groups in one score file}
22078 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
22081 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
22082 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
22083 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
22084 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
22085 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
22087 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
22088 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
22089 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
22090 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
22091 precedence over this variable.
22094 @node Followups To Yourself
22095 @section Followups To Yourself
22097 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
22098 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
22099 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
22100 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
22101 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
22102 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
22106 @item gnus-score-followup-article
22107 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
22108 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
22111 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
22112 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
22113 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
22117 @vindex message-sent-hook
22118 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
22119 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
22121 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
22125 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
22126 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
22130 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
22131 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
22134 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
22135 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
22140 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
22144 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
22145 is system-dependent.
22148 @node Scoring On Other Headers
22149 @section Scoring On Other Headers
22150 @cindex scoring on other headers
22152 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
22153 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
22154 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
22155 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
22156 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
22158 @vindex gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring
22159 You can inhibit this slow scoring on headers or body by setting the
22160 variable @code{gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring}. If
22161 @code{gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring} is regexp, slow scoring is inhibited if
22162 the group matches the regexp. If it is t, slow scoring on it is
22163 inhibited for all groups.
22165 Now, there's not much you can do about the slowness for news groups, but for
22166 mail groups, you have greater control. In @ref{To From Newsgroups},
22167 it's explained in greater detail what this mechanism does, but here's
22168 a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on how to allow scoring on the
22169 @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
22171 Put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
22174 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
22175 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
22178 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
22179 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
22180 time if you have much mail.
22182 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
22183 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
22189 @section Scoring Tips
22190 @cindex scoring tips
22196 @cindex scoring crossposts
22197 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
22198 the @code{Xref} header.
22200 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
22203 @item Multiple crossposts
22204 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
22205 more than, say, 3 groups:
22208 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
22212 @item Matching on the body
22213 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
22214 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
22215 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
22216 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
22217 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
22218 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
22219 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
22222 @item Marking as read
22223 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
22224 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
22225 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
22229 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
22231 @item Negated character classes
22232 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
22233 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
22234 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
22238 @node Reverse Scoring
22239 @section Reverse Scoring
22240 @cindex reverse scoring
22242 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
22243 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
22244 like this in your score file:
22248 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
22253 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
22254 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
22257 @node Global Score Files
22258 @section Global Score Files
22259 @cindex global score files
22261 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
22262 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
22263 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
22265 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
22266 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
22267 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
22269 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
22270 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
22271 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
22272 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
22273 files are applicable to which group.
22275 To use the score file
22276 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
22277 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
22281 (setq gnus-global-score-files
22282 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
22283 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
22286 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
22288 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
22289 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
22290 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
22291 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
22293 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
22294 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
22296 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
22297 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
22298 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
22299 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
22300 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
22301 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
22303 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
22309 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
22311 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
22313 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
22315 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
22316 lowered out of existence.
22318 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
22319 articles completely.
22322 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
22323 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
22324 old articles for a long time.
22327 @dots{} I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
22328 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
22329 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
22330 holding our breath yet?
22334 @section Kill Files
22337 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
22338 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
22339 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
22341 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
22342 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
22343 files into score files.
22345 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
22346 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
22347 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
22348 that isn't a very good idea.
22350 Normal kill files look like this:
22353 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
22354 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
22358 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
22359 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
22361 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
22362 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
22365 Two summary functions for editing a @sc{gnus} kill file:
22370 @kindex M-k (Summary)
22371 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
22372 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
22375 @kindex M-K (Summary)
22376 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
22377 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
22380 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
22385 @kindex M-k (Group)
22386 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
22387 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
22390 @kindex M-K (Group)
22391 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
22392 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
22395 Kill file variables:
22398 @item gnus-kill-file-name
22399 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
22400 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
22401 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
22402 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
22403 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
22404 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
22406 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
22407 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
22408 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
22409 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
22412 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
22413 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
22414 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
22415 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
22416 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
22417 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
22418 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
22419 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
22420 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
22422 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
22423 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
22424 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
22429 @node Converting Kill Files
22430 @section Converting Kill Files
22432 @cindex converting kill files
22434 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
22435 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
22436 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
22439 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
22440 You can fetch it from
22441 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
22443 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
22444 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
22445 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
22449 @node Advanced Scoring
22450 @section Advanced Scoring
22452 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
22453 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
22454 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
22455 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
22456 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
22458 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
22462 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
22463 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
22464 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
22468 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
22469 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
22471 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
22472 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
22473 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
22474 non-@code{nil} value.
22476 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
22477 operator, and various match operators.
22484 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
22485 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
22486 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
22491 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
22492 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
22493 then this operator will return @code{false}.
22498 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
22499 logical negation of the value of its argument.
22503 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
22504 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
22505 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
22506 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
22507 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
22508 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
22509 the ancestry you want to go.
22511 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
22512 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
22513 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
22514 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
22515 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
22518 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
22519 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
22521 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
22522 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
22525 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
22526 when he's talking about Gnus:
22531 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
22532 ("subject" "Gnus"))
22539 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
22543 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
22550 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
22551 really don't want to read what he's written:
22555 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
22556 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigil Logge")))
22560 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
22561 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
22562 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
22569 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
22570 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
22571 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
22572 ("body" "white.*socks"))
22576 Suppose you're reading a high volume group and you're only interested
22577 in replies. The plan is to score down all articles that don't have
22578 subject that begin with "Re:", "Fw:" or "Fwd:" and then score up all
22579 parents of articles that have subjects that begin with reply marks.
22582 ((! ("subject" "re:\\|fwd?:" r))
22584 ((1- ("subject" "re:\\|fwd?:" r))
22588 The possibilities are endless.
22590 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
22591 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
22593 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
22594 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
22595 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
22596 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
22597 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
22598 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
22599 @samp{subject}) first.
22601 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
22602 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
22613 Then that means ``score on the from header of the grandparent of the
22614 current article''. An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
22620 ("subject" "Gnus")))
22627 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
22628 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
22633 @section Score Decays
22634 @cindex score decays
22637 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
22638 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
22639 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
22640 use them in any sensible way.
22642 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
22643 @findex gnus-decay-score
22644 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
22645 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
22646 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
22647 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
22648 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
22649 If @code{gnus-decay-scores} is a regexp, only score files matching this
22650 regexp are treated. E.g. you may set it to @samp{\\.ADAPT\\'} if only
22651 @emph{adaptive} score files should be decayed. The decay itself if
22652 performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function} function, which is
22653 @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the definition of that
22657 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
22658 "Decay SCORE according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
22659 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
22661 (* (if (< score 0) -1 1)
22663 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
22665 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
22666 (if (and (featurep 'xemacs)
22667 ;; XEmacs' floor can handle only the floating point
22668 ;; number below the half of the maximum integer.
22669 (> (abs n) (lsh -1 -2)))
22671 (car (split-string (number-to-string n) "\\.")))
22675 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
22676 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
22677 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
22678 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
22682 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
22685 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
22688 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
22692 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
22693 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
22694 the new score, which should be an integer.
22696 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
22697 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
22702 @include message.texi
22703 @chapter Emacs MIME
22704 @include emacs-mime.texi
22706 @include sieve.texi
22718 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
22719 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
22720 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
22721 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
22722 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
22723 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
22724 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
22725 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
22726 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
22727 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
22728 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
22729 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
22730 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
22731 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
22732 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
22733 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
22734 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
22735 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
22736 * Thwarting Email Spam:: Simple ways to avoid unsolicited commercial email.
22737 * Spam Package:: A package for filtering and processing spam.
22738 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
22739 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
22743 @node Process/Prefix
22744 @section Process/Prefix
22745 @cindex process/prefix convention
22747 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
22748 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
22750 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
22751 command to be performed on.
22755 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
22756 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
22757 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
22758 with the current one.
22760 @vindex transient-mark-mode
22761 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
22762 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
22764 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
22765 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
22768 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
22769 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
22771 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
22774 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
22775 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
22776 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
22777 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
22779 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
22780 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
22781 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
22782 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
22783 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
22784 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
22785 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
22786 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
22788 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
22789 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
22790 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
22791 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
22792 expirable, you could say @kbd{M P b M-& E}.
22796 @section Interactive
22797 @cindex interaction
22801 @item gnus-novice-user
22802 @vindex gnus-novice-user
22803 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
22804 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
22805 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
22806 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
22809 @item gnus-expert-user
22810 @vindex gnus-expert-user
22811 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
22812 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
22813 matter how strange.
22815 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
22816 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
22817 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
22818 is @code{t} by default.
22820 @item gnus-interactive-exit
22821 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
22822 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
22827 @node Symbolic Prefixes
22828 @section Symbolic Prefixes
22829 @cindex symbolic prefixes
22831 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
22832 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
22833 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
22834 rule of 900 to the current article.
22836 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
22837 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
22838 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
22839 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
22840 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
22841 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
22842 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
22844 @kindex M-i (Summary)
22845 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
22846 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
22847 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
22848 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
22849 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
22850 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
22851 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
22852 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
22854 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
22855 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
22856 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
22858 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
22862 @node Formatting Variables
22863 @section Formatting Variables
22864 @cindex formatting variables
22866 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
22867 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
22868 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
22869 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
22870 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
22873 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
22874 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
22875 lots of percentages everywhere.
22878 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
22879 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
22880 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
22881 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
22882 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
22883 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
22884 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
22885 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
22888 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
22889 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
22890 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
22891 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
22892 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
22893 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
22894 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
22895 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
22897 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
22898 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
22900 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
22901 @findex gnus-update-format
22902 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
22903 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
22904 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
22905 examine the resulting Lisp code to be run to generate the line.
22909 @node Formatting Basics
22910 @subsection Formatting Basics
22912 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
22913 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
22914 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
22916 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
22917 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
22918 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
22919 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
22920 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
22923 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
22924 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
22925 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
22926 less than 4 characters wide.
22928 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
22929 @samp{%&user-date;}.
22932 @node Mode Line Formatting
22933 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
22935 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
22936 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
22937 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
22938 with the following two differences:
22943 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
22946 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
22947 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
22948 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
22949 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
22950 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
22951 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
22952 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
22957 @node Advanced Formatting
22958 @subsection Advanced Formatting
22960 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
22961 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
22962 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
22963 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
22965 These are the valid modifiers:
22970 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
22974 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
22979 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
22982 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
22987 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
22990 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
22993 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
22996 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
23002 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
23007 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
23008 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
23009 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
23010 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
23011 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
23012 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
23013 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
23015 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
23016 last operation, padding.
23018 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
23019 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
23020 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
23021 @xref{Compilation}.
23024 @node User-Defined Specs
23025 @subsection User-Defined Specs
23027 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
23028 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
23029 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
23030 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
23031 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
23032 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
23033 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
23034 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
23035 should protect against that.
23037 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
23038 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
23040 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
23041 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
23042 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
23043 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
23047 @node Formatting Fonts
23048 @subsection Formatting Fonts
23051 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
23052 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
23053 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
23054 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
23055 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
23059 @vindex gnus-face-0
23060 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
23061 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
23062 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
23063 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
23064 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
23065 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
23067 @cindex %<<, %>>, guillemets
23068 @c @cindex %<<, %>>, %«, %», guillemets
23069 @vindex gnus-balloon-face-0
23070 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
23071 special @code{balloon-help} property set to
23072 @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get
23073 @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*}
23074 variables should be either strings or symbols naming functions that
23075 return a string. When the mouse passes over text with this property
23076 set, a balloon window will appear and display the string. Please
23077 refer to @ref{Tooltips, ,Tooltips, emacs, The Emacs Manual},
23078 (in GNU Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in
23079 XEmacs) for more information on this. (For technical reasons, the
23080 guillemets have been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this
23083 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
23086 ;; @r{Create three face types.}
23087 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
23088 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
23090 ;; @r{We want the article count to be in}
23091 ;; @r{a bold and green face. So we create}
23092 ;; @r{a new face called @code{my-green-bold}.}
23093 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
23094 ;; @r{Set the color.}
23095 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
23096 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
23098 ;; @r{Set the new & fancy format.}
23099 (setq gnus-group-line-format
23100 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
23103 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
23104 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
23106 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
23107 mode-line variables.
23109 @node Positioning Point
23110 @subsection Positioning Point
23112 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
23113 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
23114 line. You can customize this behavior in three different ways.
23116 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
23118 @findex gnus-goto-colon
23119 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
23120 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
23122 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
23123 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
23124 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
23129 @subsection Tabulation
23131 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
23132 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
23133 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
23134 about lining up the following text afterwards.
23136 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs---@samp{%=}. There are two
23137 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
23139 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
23140 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
23141 This is the soft tabulator.
23143 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
23144 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
23145 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
23148 @node Wide Characters
23149 @subsection Wide Characters
23151 Fixed width fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
23152 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
23153 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
23155 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
23156 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
23157 these countries, that's not true.
23159 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
23160 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
23161 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
23162 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
23166 @node Window Layout
23167 @section Window Layout
23168 @cindex window layout
23170 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
23172 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
23173 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
23174 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
23175 @code{t} by default.
23177 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
23178 glitches. Use at your own peril.
23180 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
23181 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
23182 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
23185 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
23186 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
23187 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
23191 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
23192 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
23193 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
23194 possible names is listed below.
23196 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
23197 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
23200 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
23204 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
23205 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
23206 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
23207 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
23208 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
23209 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
23210 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
23211 size spec per split.
23213 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
23214 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
23215 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
23216 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
23217 present) gets focus.
23219 Here's a more complicated example:
23222 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
23223 (summary 0.25 point)
23224 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
23228 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
23229 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
23230 occupy, not a percentage.
23232 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
23233 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
23234 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
23235 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
23236 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
23239 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
23242 (article (horizontal 1.0
23247 (summary 0.25 point)
23252 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
23253 @code{horizontal} thingie?
23255 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
23256 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
23257 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
23258 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
23259 the screen is to be given to this strip.
23261 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
23262 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
23263 lines from the splits.
23265 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
23270 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
23271 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
23272 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
23273 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
23274 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
23275 size = number | frame-params
23276 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
23280 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
23281 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
23282 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
23283 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
23285 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
23286 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
23287 @cindex window height
23288 @cindex window width
23289 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
23290 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
23291 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
23292 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
23293 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
23294 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
23296 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
23297 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
23298 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
23299 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
23301 @findex gnus-configure-frame
23302 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
23303 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
23304 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
23305 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
23306 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
23307 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
23308 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
23309 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
23310 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
23311 configuration list.
23314 (gnus-configure-frame
23318 (article 0.3 point))
23326 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
23327 @code{frame} split:
23330 (gnus-configure-frame
23333 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
23335 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
23336 (user-position . t)
23337 (left . -1) (top . 1))
23342 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
23343 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
23344 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
23345 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
23346 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
23347 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
23348 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
23349 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
23351 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
23352 be found in its default value.
23354 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
23355 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
23356 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
23360 (message (horizontal 1.0
23361 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
23363 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
23368 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
23369 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
23370 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
23375 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
23376 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
23377 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
23378 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
23379 (name . "Message"))
23380 (message 1.0 point))))
23383 @findex gnus-add-configuration
23384 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
23385 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
23386 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
23387 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
23390 (gnus-add-configuration
23391 '(article (vertical 1.0
23393 (summary .25 point)
23397 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
23398 @file{~/.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
23399 Gnus has been loaded.
23401 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
23402 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
23403 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
23404 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
23405 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
23407 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
23408 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
23409 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
23412 @subsection Example Window Configurations
23416 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
23417 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
23432 (gnus-add-configuration
23435 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
23437 (summary 0.16 point)
23440 (gnus-add-configuration
23443 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
23444 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
23450 @node Faces and Fonts
23451 @section Faces and Fonts
23456 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
23457 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
23458 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
23463 @section Compilation
23464 @cindex compilation
23465 @cindex byte-compilation
23467 @findex gnus-compile
23469 Remember all those line format specification variables?
23470 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
23471 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
23472 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
23473 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
23474 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
23477 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
23478 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
23479 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
23480 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
23481 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
23482 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
23483 them into the @file{~/.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
23487 @section Mode Lines
23490 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
23491 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
23492 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
23493 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
23494 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
23495 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
23496 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
23499 @cindex display-time
23501 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
23502 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
23503 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
23504 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
23505 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
23506 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
23507 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
23508 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
23511 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
23513 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
23514 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
23516 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
23517 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
23518 (length display-time-string)))))
23521 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
23522 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
23523 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
23524 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
23525 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
23528 @node Highlighting and Menus
23529 @section Highlighting and Menus
23531 @cindex highlighting
23534 @vindex gnus-visual
23535 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
23536 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
23537 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
23540 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
23541 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
23544 @item group-highlight
23545 Do highlights in the group buffer.
23546 @item summary-highlight
23547 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
23548 @item article-highlight
23549 Do highlights in the article buffer.
23551 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
23553 Create menus in the group buffer.
23555 Create menus in the summary buffers.
23557 Create menus in the article buffer.
23559 Create menus in the browse buffer.
23561 Create menus in the server buffer.
23563 Create menus in the score buffers.
23565 Create menus in all buffers.
23568 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
23569 buffers, you could say something like:
23572 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
23575 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
23578 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
23581 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
23582 in all Gnus buffers.
23584 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
23587 @item gnus-mouse-face
23588 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
23589 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
23590 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
23594 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
23598 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
23599 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
23600 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
23602 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
23603 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
23604 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
23606 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
23607 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
23608 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
23610 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
23611 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
23612 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
23614 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
23615 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
23616 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
23618 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
23619 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
23620 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
23631 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
23632 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
23633 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
23634 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
23635 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
23639 @vindex gnus-carpal
23640 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
23641 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
23642 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
23647 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
23648 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
23649 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
23651 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
23652 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
23653 Face used on buttons.
23655 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
23656 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
23657 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
23659 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
23660 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
23661 Buttons in the group buffer.
23663 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
23664 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
23665 Buttons in the summary buffer.
23667 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
23668 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
23669 Buttons in the server buffer.
23671 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
23672 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
23673 Buttons in the browse buffer.
23676 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
23677 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
23678 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
23686 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
23687 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
23688 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
23689 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
23690 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
23692 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
23693 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
23694 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
23696 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
23697 been idle for thirty minutes:
23700 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
23703 Here's a handler that scans for @acronym{PGP} headers every hour when
23707 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
23710 This @var{time} parameter and that @var{idle} parameter work together
23711 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
23712 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
23714 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
23715 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
23716 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
23717 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
23719 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
23720 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
23721 @var{idle} minutes.
23723 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
23724 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
23727 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
23728 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
23729 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
23731 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
23732 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
23733 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
23734 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
23736 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
23737 your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23739 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
23741 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
23744 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
23745 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
23746 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
23747 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
23748 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
23749 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
23750 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
23751 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
23752 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
23753 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
23754 @file{~/.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
23756 @findex gnus-demon-init
23757 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
23758 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
23759 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
23760 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
23761 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
23763 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
23764 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
23765 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
23774 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
23775 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
23777 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
23778 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
23779 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
23780 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
23783 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
23784 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
23785 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
23786 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
23788 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
23789 this will make spam disappear.
23791 There are some variables to customize, of course:
23794 @item gnus-use-nocem
23795 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
23796 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
23799 You can also set this variable to a positive number as a group level.
23800 In that case, Gnus scans NoCeM messages when checking new news if this
23801 value is not exceeding a group level that you specify as the prefix
23802 argument to some commands, e.g. @code{gnus},
23803 @code{gnus-group-get-new-news}, etc. Otherwise, Gnus does not scan
23804 NoCeM messages if you specify a group level to those commands. For
23805 example, if you use 1 or 2 on the mail groups and the levels on the news
23806 groups remain the default, 3 is the best choice.
23808 @item gnus-nocem-groups
23809 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
23810 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
23813 ("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
23814 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")
23817 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
23818 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
23819 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
23820 people you want to listen to. The default is
23822 ("Automoose-1" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
23823 "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo" "hweede@@snafu.de")
23825 fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
23827 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at@*
23828 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
23830 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
23831 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
23832 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
23833 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
23834 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
23835 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
23836 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
23837 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
23838 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
23839 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
23841 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
23842 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
23845 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
23848 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
23849 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
23852 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
23855 The specs are applied left-to-right.
23858 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
23859 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
23861 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
23862 says she is. The default is @code{pgg-verify}, which returns
23863 non-@code{nil} if the verification is successful, otherwise (including
23864 the case the NoCeM message was not signed) returns @code{nil}. If this
23865 is too slow and you don't care for verification (which may be dangerous),
23866 you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
23868 Formerly the default was @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
23869 function. While you can still use it, you can change it into
23870 @code{pgg-verify} running with GnuPG if you are willing to add the
23871 @acronym{PGP} public keys to GnuPG's keyring.
23873 @item gnus-nocem-directory
23874 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
23875 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is@*
23876 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
23878 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
23879 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
23880 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
23881 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
23882 might then see old spam.
23884 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
23885 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
23886 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
23887 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
23888 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
23891 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
23892 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
23893 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
23894 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
23898 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
23899 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
23900 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
23901 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
23908 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
23909 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
23910 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
23912 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
23913 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
23914 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
23915 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
23916 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
23917 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
23918 @code{undo} function.
23920 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
23921 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
23922 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
23923 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
23924 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
23925 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
23926 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
23927 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
23928 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
23929 never be totally undoable.
23931 @findex gnus-undo-mode
23932 @vindex gnus-use-undo
23934 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
23935 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
23936 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
23937 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
23941 @node Predicate Specifiers
23942 @section Predicate Specifiers
23943 @cindex predicate specifiers
23945 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
23946 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
23947 to type all that much.
23949 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
23954 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
23955 gnus-article-unread-p)
23958 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
23959 functions all take one parameter.
23961 @findex gnus-make-predicate
23962 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
23963 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
23964 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
23969 @section Moderation
23972 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
23973 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
23974 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
23977 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
23981 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
23984 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
23986 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
23991 You split your incoming mail by matching on
23992 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
23993 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
23996 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
23997 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
24000 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
24001 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
24005 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
24008 (setq gnus-moderated-list
24009 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
24013 @node Fetching a Group
24014 @section Fetching a Group
24015 @cindex fetching a group
24017 @findex gnus-fetch-group
24018 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
24019 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
24020 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
24021 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
24022 It takes the group name as a parameter.
24025 @node Image Enhancements
24026 @section Image Enhancements
24028 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21@footnote{Emacs 21 on MS Windows doesn't
24029 support images, Emacs 22 does.} and up, are able to display pictures and
24030 stuff, so Gnus has taken advantage of that.
24033 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
24034 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
24035 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
24036 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
24037 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
24045 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
24046 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
24047 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
24051 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
24052 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
24053 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
24061 Viewing an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
24062 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions have), or that you
24063 have suitable conversion or display programs installed. If your Emacs
24064 has image support the default action is to display the face before the
24065 @code{From} header. If there's no native @code{X-Face} support, Gnus
24066 will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using external programs
24067 from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends, see below. For XEmacs it's
24068 faster if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support. The
24069 default action under Emacs without image support is to fork off the
24070 @code{display} program.
24072 On a GNU/Linux system, the @code{display} program is included in the
24073 ImageMagick package. For external conversion programs look for packages
24074 with names like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.
24075 On Windows, you may use the packages @code{netpbm} and @code{compface}
24076 from @url{http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net}. You need to add the
24077 @code{bin} directory to your @code{PATH} environment variable.
24078 @c In fact only the following DLLs and binaries seem to be required:
24079 @c compface1.dll uncompface.exe libnetpbm10.dll icontopbm.exe
24081 The variable @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} controls which programs
24082 are used to display the @code{X-Face} header. If this variable is a
24083 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
24084 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
24085 If @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches the
24086 @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
24088 (Note: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
24096 @vindex gnus-x-face
24097 Face to show X-Face. The colors from this face are used as the
24098 foreground and background colors of the displayed X-Faces. The
24099 default colors are black and white.
24101 @item gnus-face-properties-alist
24102 @vindex gnus-face-properties-alist
24103 Alist of image types and properties applied to Face (@pxref{Face}) and
24104 X-Face images. The default value is @code{((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face))
24105 (png . nil))} for Emacs or @code{((xface . (:face gnus-x-face)))} for
24106 XEmacs. Here are examples:
24109 ;; Specify the altitude of Face and X-Face images in the From header.
24110 (setq gnus-face-properties-alist
24111 '((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face :ascent 80))
24112 (png . (:ascent 80))))
24114 ;; Show Face and X-Face images as pressed buttons.
24115 (setq gnus-face-properties-alist
24116 '((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face :relief -2))
24117 (png . (:relief -2))))
24120 @pxref{Image Descriptors, ,Image Descriptors, elisp, The Emacs Lisp
24121 Reference Manual} for the valid properties for various image types.
24122 Currently, @code{pbm} is used for X-Face images and @code{png} is used
24123 for Face images in Emacs. Only the @code{:face} property is effective
24124 on the @code{xface} image type in XEmacs if it is built with the
24125 @samp{libcompface} library.
24128 If you use posting styles, you can use an @code{x-face-file} entry in
24129 @code{gnus-posting-styles}, @xref{Posting Styles}. If you don't, Gnus
24130 provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow easier
24131 insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages. You also need the
24132 above mentioned ImageMagick, netpbm or other image conversion packages
24133 (depending the values of the variables below) for these functions.
24135 @findex gnus-random-x-face
24136 @vindex gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command
24137 @vindex gnus-x-face-directory
24138 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
24139 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
24140 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
24141 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
24142 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
24143 header data as a string.
24145 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
24146 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
24147 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
24148 randomly generated data.
24150 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
24151 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command
24152 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
24153 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
24154 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
24156 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
24157 like the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
24160 (setq message-required-news-headers
24161 (nconc message-required-news-headers
24162 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
24165 Using the last function would be something like this:
24168 (setq message-required-news-headers
24169 (nconc message-required-news-headers
24170 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
24171 (gnus-x-face-from-file
24172 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
24180 @c #### FIXME: faces and x-faces' implementations should really be harmonized.
24182 @code{Face} headers are essentially a funkier version of @code{X-Face}
24183 ones. They describe a 48x48 pixel colored image that's supposed to
24184 represent the author of the message.
24187 @findex gnus-article-display-face
24188 The contents of a @code{Face} header must be a base64 encoded PNG image.
24189 See @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/circus/face/} for the precise
24192 The @code{gnus-face-properties-alist} variable affects the appearance of
24193 displayed Face images. @xref{X-Face}.
24195 Viewing an @code{Face} header requires an Emacs that is able to display
24198 @c (if (featurep 'xemacs)
24200 @c (image-type-available-p 'png))
24202 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
24203 easier insertion of Face headers in outgoing messages.
24205 @findex gnus-convert-png-to-face
24206 @code{gnus-convert-png-to-face} takes a 48x48 PNG image, no longer than
24207 726 bytes long, and converts it to a face.
24209 @findex gnus-face-from-file
24210 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-face-command
24211 @code{gnus-face-from-file} takes a JPEG file as the parameter, and then
24212 converts the file to Face format by using the
24213 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-face-command} shell command.
24215 Here's how you would typically use this function. Put something like the
24216 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
24219 (setq message-required-news-headers
24220 (nconc message-required-news-headers
24221 (list '(Face . (lambda ()
24222 (gnus-face-from-file "~/face.jpg"))))))
24227 @subsection Smileys
24232 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
24237 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
24238 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
24240 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
24241 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
24244 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
24247 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{8-)}, @samp{:-(} and
24248 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
24249 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
24250 text and maps that to file names.
24252 @vindex smiley-regexp-alist
24253 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist}
24254 variable. The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched;
24255 the second element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by
24256 the picture; and the third element is the name of the file to be
24259 The following variables customize the appearance of the smileys:
24264 @vindex smiley-style
24265 Specifies the smiley style. Predefined smiley styles include
24266 @code{low-color} (small 13x14 pixel, three-color images), @code{medium}
24267 (more colorful images, 16x16 pixel), and @code{grayscale} (grayscale
24268 images, 14x14 pixel). The default depends on the height of the default
24271 @item smiley-data-directory
24272 @vindex smiley-data-directory
24273 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files. You shouldn't set this
24274 variable anymore. Customize @code{smiley-style} instead.
24276 @item gnus-smiley-file-types
24277 @vindex gnus-smiley-file-types
24278 List of suffixes on smiley file names to try.
24292 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
24293 good way to do so. It's also a great way to impress people staring
24294 over your shoulder as you read news.
24296 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
24305 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
24306 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
24307 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
24308 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
24309 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
24310 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
24311 @code{GIF} formats.
24314 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
24315 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases,
24316 point your Web browser at
24317 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
24319 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
24320 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
24322 To enable displaying picons, simply make sure that
24323 @code{gnus-picon-databases} points to the directory containing the
24326 @vindex gnus-picon-style
24327 The variable @code{gnus-picon-style} controls how picons are displayed.
24328 If @code{inline}, the textual representation is replaced. If
24329 @code{right}, picons are added right to the textual representation.
24331 The following variables offer control over where things are located.
24335 @item gnus-picon-databases
24336 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
24337 The location of the picons database. This is a list of directories
24338 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
24339 subdirectories. Defaults to @code{("/usr/lib/picon"
24340 "/usr/local/faces")}.
24342 @item gnus-picon-news-directories
24343 @vindex gnus-picon-news-directories
24344 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
24345 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
24347 @item gnus-picon-user-directories
24348 @vindex gnus-picon-user-directories
24349 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for user
24350 faces. @code{("users" "usenix" "local" "misc")} is the default.
24352 @item gnus-picon-domain-directories
24353 @vindex gnus-picon-domain-directories
24354 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
24355 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
24356 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
24358 @item gnus-picon-file-types
24359 @vindex gnus-picon-file-types
24360 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
24361 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not built-in your Emacs.
24367 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
24370 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
24371 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
24372 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
24373 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
24374 unusual directory structure.
24376 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
24377 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
24378 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
24383 @subsubsection Toolbar
24387 @item gnus-use-toolbar
24388 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
24389 This variable specifies the position to display the toolbar. If
24390 @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If it is non-@code{nil}, it should
24391 be one of the symbols @code{default}, @code{top}, @code{bottom},
24392 @code{right}, and @code{left}. @code{default} means to use the default
24393 toolbar, the rest mean to display the toolbar on the place which those
24394 names show. The default is @code{default}.
24396 @item gnus-toolbar-thickness
24397 @vindex gnus-toolbar-thickness
24398 Cons of the height and the width specifying the thickness of a toolbar.
24399 The height is used for the toolbar displayed on the top or the bottom,
24400 the width is used for the toolbar displayed on the right or the left.
24401 The default is that of the default toolbar.
24403 @item gnus-group-toolbar
24404 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
24405 The toolbar in the group buffer.
24407 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
24408 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
24409 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
24411 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
24412 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
24413 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
24424 @node Fuzzy Matching
24425 @section Fuzzy Matching
24426 @cindex fuzzy matching
24428 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
24429 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
24431 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
24432 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
24433 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
24435 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
24436 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
24437 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
24438 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
24439 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
24442 @node Thwarting Email Spam
24443 @section Thwarting Email Spam
24447 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
24449 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
24450 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
24451 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
24452 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
24453 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
24454 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
24455 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
24456 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
24459 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
24460 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
24461 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
24462 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
24463 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
24464 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
24466 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
24469 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
24470 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
24471 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
24472 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
24475 @node The problem of spam
24476 @subsection The problem of spam
24478 @cindex spam filtering approaches
24479 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
24481 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
24483 First, some background on spam.
24485 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
24486 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it
24487 exists because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail,
24488 so only a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to
24489 make it worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most
24490 common spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for
24491 further spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers},
24492 but terms like @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, @emph{sociopaths}, and
24493 @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
24495 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
24496 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
24497 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
24498 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
24499 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
24500 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
24501 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
24502 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
24503 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
24506 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering, at the mail
24507 server or when you sort through incoming mail. If you get 200 spam
24508 messages per day from @samp{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you block
24509 @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about @samp{VIAGRA}, you
24510 discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the message. If you get
24511 lots of spam from Bulgaria, for example, you try to filter all mail
24512 from Bulgarian IPs.
24514 This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate e-mail. The
24515 risks of blocking a whole country (Bulgaria, Norway, Nigeria, China,
24516 etc.) or even a continent (Asia, Africa, Europe, etc.) from contacting
24517 you should be obvious, so don't do it if you have the choice.
24519 In another instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest has
24520 been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it @strong{contained}
24521 words that were common in spam messages. Nevertheless, in isolated
24522 cases, with great care, direct filtering of mail can be useful.
24524 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
24525 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
24526 @var{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @var{X} in
24527 Ghana, Estonia, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
24528 @var{N} systems enter @var{X} or the spam e-mail from @var{X} into a
24529 database. The criteria for spam detection vary---it may be the number
24530 of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When a user
24531 of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a message is
24532 spam, he consults one of those @var{N} systems.
24534 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
24535 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
24536 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
24537 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
24538 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
24539 sending spam, and their web sites and mailing lists have been shut
24540 down for some time because of the incident.
24542 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
24543 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
24544 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
24545 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
24546 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
24547 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
24548 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
24549 to store the database of spam analysis. Statistical analysis on the
24550 server is gaining popularity. This has the advantage of letting the
24551 user Just Read Mail, but has the disadvantage that it's harder to tell
24552 the server that it has misclassified mail.
24554 Fighting spam is not easy, no matter what anyone says. There is no
24555 magic switch that will distinguish Viagra ads from Mom's e-mails.
24556 Even people are having a hard time telling spam apart from non-spam,
24557 because spammers are actively looking to fool us into thinking they
24558 are Mom, essentially. Spamming is irritating, irresponsible, and
24559 idiotic behavior from a bunch of people who think the world owes them
24560 a favor. We hope the following sections will help you in fighting the
24563 @node Anti-Spam Basics
24564 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
24568 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
24570 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
24571 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
24573 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
24574 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
24575 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
24576 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
24577 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
24578 part of the mail address.)
24581 (setq message-default-news-headers
24582 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
24585 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
24586 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
24590 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
24591 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
24592 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
24597 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
24598 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
24599 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
24600 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
24602 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @acronym{SMTP} server
24603 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
24604 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
24605 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
24606 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
24607 your fancy split rule in this way:
24612 (to "larsi" "misc")
24616 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
24617 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
24618 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
24619 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
24620 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
24622 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
24623 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
24624 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
24625 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
24627 Be careful with this approach. Spammers are wise to it.
24631 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
24632 @cindex SpamAssassin
24633 @cindex Vipul's Razor
24636 The days where the hints in the previous section were sufficient in
24637 avoiding spam are coming to an end. There are many tools out there
24638 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
24639 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
24640 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
24641 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
24642 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
24644 Note that this section does not involve the @code{spam.el} package,
24645 which is discussed in the next section. If you don't care for all
24646 the features of @code{spam.el}, you can make do with these simple
24649 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
24650 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
24651 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
24652 Specifiers}) follow.
24656 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
24660 "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
24663 Once you manage to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
24664 the mail contain e.g.@: a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
24665 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
24668 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
24672 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
24675 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
24676 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
24680 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
24681 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
24682 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
24683 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
24686 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
24688 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
24692 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
24693 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
24697 Note that with the nnimap back end, message bodies will not be
24698 downloaded by default. You need to set
24699 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
24700 (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}).
24702 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
24703 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
24704 spam. And here is the nifty function:
24707 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
24708 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
24710 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d" t)
24711 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
24715 @subsection Hashcash
24718 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
24719 costly and demonstrably unique for each message they send. This has
24720 the obvious drawback that you cannot rely on everyone in the world
24721 using this technique, since it is not part of the Internet standards,
24722 but it may be useful in smaller communities.
24724 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
24725 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
24726 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
24727 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
24728 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
24729 instead prefers that everyone you contact through e-mail supports the
24730 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
24731 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
24732 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
24733 one of them separately.
24736 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
24737 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
24738 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:} header.
24739 For more details, and for the external application @code{hashcash} you
24740 need to install to use this feature, see
24741 @uref{http://www.hashcash.org/}. Even more information can be found
24742 at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
24744 If you wish to generate hashcash for each message you send, you can
24745 customize @code{message-generate-hashcash} (@pxref{Mail Headers, ,Mail
24746 Headers,message, The Message Manual}), as in:
24749 (setq message-generate-hashcash t)
24752 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
24756 @item hashcash-default-payment
24757 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
24758 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
24759 should consist of. By default this is 20. Suggested useful values
24762 @item hashcash-payment-alist
24763 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
24764 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
24765 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(@var{addr}
24766 @var{amount})} cells, where @var{addr} is the receiver (email address
24767 or newsgroup) and @var{amount} is the number of bits in the collision
24768 that is needed. It can also contain @samp{(@var{addr} @var{string}
24769 @var{amount})} cells, where the @var{string} is the string to use
24770 (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
24772 @item hashcash-path
24773 @vindex hashcash-path
24774 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed. This variable should
24775 be automatically set by @code{executable-find}, but if it's @code{nil}
24776 (usually because the @code{hashcash} binary is not in your path)
24777 you'll get a warning when you check hashcash payments and an error
24778 when you generate hashcash payments.
24782 Gnus can verify hashcash cookies, although this can also be done by
24783 hand customized mail filtering scripts. To verify a hashcash cookie
24784 in a message, use the @code{mail-check-payment} function in the
24785 @code{hashcash.el} library. You can also use the @code{spam.el}
24786 package with the @code{spam-use-hashcash} back end to validate hashcash
24787 cookies in incoming mail and filter mail accordingly (@pxref{Anti-spam
24788 Hashcash Payments}).
24791 @section Spam Package
24792 @cindex spam filtering
24795 The Spam package provides Gnus with a centralized mechanism for
24796 detecting and filtering spam. It filters new mail, and processes
24797 messages according to whether they are spam or ham. (@dfn{Ham} is the
24798 name used throughout this manual to indicate non-spam messages.)
24801 * Spam Package Introduction::
24802 * Filtering Incoming Mail::
24803 * Detecting Spam in Groups::
24804 * Spam and Ham Processors::
24805 * Spam Package Configuration Examples::
24807 * Extending the Spam package::
24808 * Spam Statistics Package::
24811 @node Spam Package Introduction
24812 @subsection Spam Package Introduction
24813 @cindex spam filtering
24814 @cindex spam filtering sequence of events
24817 You must read this section to understand how the Spam package works.
24818 Do not skip, speed-read, or glance through this section.
24820 Make sure you read the section on the @code{spam.el} sequence of
24821 events. See @xref{Extending the Spam package}.
24823 @cindex spam-initialize
24824 @vindex spam-use-stat
24825 To use the Spam package, you @strong{must} first run the function
24826 @code{spam-initialize}:
24832 This autoloads @code{spam.el} and installs the various hooks necessary
24833 to let the Spam package do its job. In order to make use of the Spam
24834 package, you have to set up certain group parameters and variables,
24835 which we will describe below. All of the variables controlling the
24836 Spam package can be found in the @samp{spam} customization group.
24838 There are two ``contact points'' between the Spam package and the rest
24839 of Gnus: checking new mail for spam, and leaving a group.
24841 Checking new mail for spam is done in one of two ways: while splitting
24842 incoming mail, or when you enter a group.
24844 The first way, checking for spam while splitting incoming mail, is
24845 suited to mail back ends such as @code{nnml} or @code{nnimap}, where
24846 new mail appears in a single spool file. The Spam package processes
24847 incoming mail, and sends mail considered to be spam to a designated
24848 ``spam'' group. @xref{Filtering Incoming Mail}.
24850 The second way is suited to back ends such as @code{nntp}, which have
24851 no incoming mail spool, or back ends where the server is in charge of
24852 splitting incoming mail. In this case, when you enter a Gnus group,
24853 the unseen or unread messages in that group are checked for spam.
24854 Detected spam messages are marked as spam. @xref{Detecting Spam in
24857 @cindex spam back ends
24858 In either case, you have to tell the Spam package what method to use
24859 to detect spam messages. There are several methods, or @dfn{spam back
24860 ends} (not to be confused with Gnus back ends!) to choose from: spam
24861 ``blacklists'' and ``whitelists'', dictionary-based filters, and so
24862 forth. @xref{Spam Back Ends}.
24864 In the Gnus summary buffer, messages that have been identified as spam
24865 always appear with a @samp{$} symbol.
24867 The Spam package divides Gnus groups into three categories: ham
24868 groups, spam groups, and unclassified groups. You should mark each of
24869 the groups you subscribe to as either a ham group or a spam group,
24870 using the @code{spam-contents} group parameter (@pxref{Group
24871 Parameters}). Spam groups have a special property: when you enter a
24872 spam group, all unseen articles are marked as spam. Thus, mail split
24873 into a spam group is automatically marked as spam.
24875 Identifying spam messages is only half of the Spam package's job. The
24876 second half comes into play whenever you exit a group buffer. At this
24877 point, the Spam package does several things:
24879 First, it calls @dfn{spam and ham processors} to process the articles
24880 according to whether they are spam or ham. There is a pair of spam
24881 and ham processors associated with each spam back end, and what the
24882 processors do depends on the back end. At present, the main role of
24883 spam and ham processors is for dictionary-based spam filters: they add
24884 the contents of the messages in the group to the filter's dictionary,
24885 to improve its ability to detect future spam. The @code{spam-process}
24886 group parameter specifies what spam processors to use. @xref{Spam and
24889 If the spam filter failed to mark a spam message, you can mark it
24890 yourself, so that the message is processed as spam when you exit the
24900 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
24901 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
24902 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{$} mark
24903 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}).
24907 Similarly, you can unmark an article if it has been erroneously marked
24908 as spam. @xref{Setting Marks}.
24910 Normally, a ham message found in a non-ham group is not processed as
24911 ham---the rationale is that it should be moved into a ham group for
24912 further processing (see below). However, you can force these articles
24913 to be processed as ham by setting
24914 @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} and
24915 @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups}.
24917 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
24918 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
24919 The second thing that the Spam package does when you exit a group is
24920 to move ham articles out of spam groups, and spam articles out of ham
24921 groups. Ham in a spam group is moved to the group specified by the
24922 variable @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}, or the group parameter
24923 @code{ham-process-destination}. Spam in a ham group is moved to the
24924 group specified by the variable @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations},
24925 or the group parameter @code{spam-process-destination}. If these
24926 variables are not set, the articles are left in their current group.
24927 If an article cannot be moved (e.g., with a read-only backend such
24928 as @acronym{NNTP}), it is copied.
24930 If an article is moved to another group, it is processed again when
24931 you visit the new group. Normally, this is not a problem, but if you
24932 want each article to be processed only once, load the
24933 @code{gnus-registry.el} package and set the variable
24934 @code{spam-log-to-registry} to @code{t}. @xref{Spam Package
24935 Configuration Examples}.
24937 Normally, spam groups ignore @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations}.
24938 However, if you set @code{spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only} to
24939 @code{nil}, spam will also be moved out of spam groups, depending on
24940 the @code{spam-process-destination} parameter.
24942 The final thing the Spam package does is to mark spam articles as
24943 expired, which is usually the right thing to do.
24945 If all this seems confusing, don't worry. Soon it will be as natural
24946 as typing Lisp one-liners on a neural interface@dots{} err, sorry, that's
24947 50 years in the future yet. Just trust us, it's not so bad.
24949 @node Filtering Incoming Mail
24950 @subsection Filtering Incoming Mail
24951 @cindex spam filtering
24952 @cindex spam filtering incoming mail
24955 To use the Spam package to filter incoming mail, you must first set up
24956 fancy mail splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}. The Spam package
24957 defines a special splitting function that you can add to your fancy
24958 split variable (either @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
24959 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on your mail back end):
24965 @vindex spam-split-group
24967 The @code{spam-split} function scans incoming mail according to your
24968 chosen spam back end(s), and sends messages identified as spam to a
24969 spam group. By default, the spam group is a group named @samp{spam},
24970 but you can change this by customizing @code{spam-split-group}. Make
24971 sure the contents of @code{spam-split-group} are an unqualified group
24972 name. For instance, in an @code{nnimap} server @samp{your-server},
24973 the value @samp{spam} means @samp{nnimap+your-server:spam}. The value
24974 @samp{nnimap+server:spam} is therefore wrong---it gives the group
24975 @samp{nnimap+your-server:nnimap+server:spam}.
24977 @code{spam-split} does not modify the contents of messages in any way.
24979 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
24980 Note for IMAP users: if you use the @code{spam-check-bogofilter},
24981 @code{spam-check-ifile}, and @code{spam-check-stat} spam back ends,
24982 you should also set set the variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body}
24983 to @code{t}. These spam back ends are most useful when they can
24984 ``scan'' the full message body. By default, the nnimap back end only
24985 retrieves the message headers; @code{nnimap-split-download-body} tells
24986 it to retrieve the message bodies as well. We don't set this by
24987 default because it will slow @acronym{IMAP} down, and that is not an
24988 appropriate decision to make on behalf of the user. @xref{Splitting
24991 You have to specify one or more spam back ends for @code{spam-split}
24992 to use, by setting the @code{spam-use-*} variables. @xref{Spam Back
24993 Ends}. Normally, @code{spam-split} simply uses all the spam back ends
24994 you enabled in this way. However, you can tell @code{spam-split} to
24995 use only some of them. Why this is useful? Suppose you are using the
24996 @code{spam-use-regex-headers} and @code{spam-use-blackholes} spam back
24997 ends, and the following split rule:
25000 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
25001 (any "ding" "ding")
25003 ;; @r{default mailbox}
25008 The problem is that you want all ding messages to make it to the ding
25009 folder. But that will let obvious spam (for example, spam detected by
25010 SpamAssassin, and @code{spam-use-regex-headers}) through, when it's
25011 sent to the ding list. On the other hand, some messages to the ding
25012 list are from a mail server in the blackhole list, so the invocation
25013 of @code{spam-split} can't be before the ding rule.
25015 The solution is to let SpamAssassin headers supersede ding rules, and
25016 perform the other @code{spam-split} rules (including a second
25017 invocation of the regex-headers check) after the ding rule. This is
25018 done by passing a parameter to @code{spam-split}:
25023 ;; @r{spam detected by @code{spam-use-regex-headers} goes to @samp{regex-spam}}
25024 (: spam-split "regex-spam" 'spam-use-regex-headers)
25025 (any "ding" "ding")
25026 ;; @r{all other spam detected by spam-split goes to @code{spam-split-group}}
25028 ;; @r{default mailbox}
25033 This lets you invoke specific @code{spam-split} checks depending on
25034 your particular needs, and target the results of those checks to a
25035 particular spam group. You don't have to throw all mail into all the
25036 spam tests. Another reason why this is nice is that messages to
25037 mailing lists you have rules for don't have to have resource-intensive
25038 blackhole checks performed on them. You could also specify different
25039 spam checks for your nnmail split vs. your nnimap split. Go crazy.
25041 You should set the @code{spam-use-*} variables for whatever spam back
25042 ends you intend to use. The reason is that when loading
25043 @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done depending on what
25044 @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set. @xref{Spam Back Ends}.
25046 @c @emph{TODO: spam.el needs to provide a uniform way of training all the
25047 @c statistical databases. Some have that functionality built-in, others
25050 @node Detecting Spam in Groups
25051 @subsection Detecting Spam in Groups
25053 To detect spam when visiting a group, set the group's
25054 @code{spam-autodetect} and @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group
25055 parameters. These are accessible with @kbd{G c} or @kbd{G p}, as
25056 usual (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
25058 You should set the @code{spam-use-*} variables for whatever spam back
25059 ends you intend to use. The reason is that when loading
25060 @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done depending on what
25061 @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set.
25063 By default, only unseen articles are processed for spam. You can
25064 force Gnus to recheck all messages in the group by setting the
25065 variable @code{spam-autodetect-recheck-messages} to @code{t}.
25067 If you use the @code{spam-autodetect} method of checking for spam, you
25068 can specify different spam detection methods for different groups.
25069 For instance, the @samp{ding} group may have @code{spam-use-BBDB} as
25070 the autodetection method, while the @samp{suspect} group may have the
25071 @code{spam-use-blacklist} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter} methods
25072 enabled. Unlike with @code{spam-split}, you don't have any control
25073 over the @emph{sequence} of checks, but this is probably unimportant.
25075 @node Spam and Ham Processors
25076 @subsection Spam and Ham Processors
25077 @cindex spam filtering
25078 @cindex spam filtering variables
25079 @cindex spam variables
25082 @vindex gnus-spam-process-newsgroups
25083 Spam and ham processors specify special actions to take when you exit
25084 a group buffer. Spam processors act on spam messages, and ham
25085 processors on ham messages. At present, the main role of these
25086 processors is to update the dictionaries of dictionary-based spam back
25087 ends such as Bogofilter (@pxref{Bogofilter}) and the Spam Statistics
25088 package (@pxref{Spam Statistics Filtering}).
25090 The spam and ham processors that apply to each group are determined by
25091 the group's@code{spam-process} group parameter. If this group
25092 parameter is not defined, they are determined by the variable
25093 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups}.
25095 @vindex gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
25096 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
25097 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
25098 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
25099 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
25100 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
25101 by customizing the corresponding variable
25102 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
25103 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
25104 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
25105 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
25106 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
25107 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
25108 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
25111 @vindex gnus-spam-mark
25113 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
25114 they get the @samp{$} mark (@code{gnus-spam-mark}) when you enter the
25115 group. If you have seen a message, had it marked as spam, then
25116 unmarked it, it won't be marked as spam when you enter the group
25117 thereafter. You can disable that behavior, so all unread messages
25118 will get the @samp{$} mark, if you set the
25119 @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam} parameter to @code{nil}. You
25120 should remove the @samp{$} mark when you are in the group summary
25121 buffer for every message that is not spam after all. To remove the
25122 @samp{$} mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to ``unread'' the article, or
25123 @kbd{d} for declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a
25124 group, all spam-marked (@samp{$}) articles are sent to a spam
25125 processor which will study them as spam samples.
25127 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
25128 @code{ham-marks} group parameter gets overridden below, marks @samp{R}
25129 and @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
25130 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
25131 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
25132 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
25133 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
25134 should then adjust the @code{ham-marks} group parameter.
25137 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
25138 marks you want to consider ham. By default, the list contains the
25139 deleted, read, killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks (the idea is
25140 that these articles have been read, but are not spam). It can be
25141 useful to also include the tick mark in the ham marks. It is not
25142 recommended to make the unread mark a ham mark, because it normally
25143 indicates a lack of classification. But you can do it, and we'll be
25148 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
25149 marks you want to consider spam. By default, the list contains only
25150 the spam mark. It is not recommended to change that, but you can if
25151 you really want to.
25154 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
25155 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
25156 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
25157 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
25158 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
25159 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{$},
25162 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
25163 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
25164 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
25165 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
25166 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
25167 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
25168 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
25169 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
25170 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with @kbd{M-x
25171 customize-variable @key{RET} gnus-ham-process-destinations}). Each
25172 group name list is a standard Lisp list, if you prefer to customize
25173 the variable manually. If the @code{ham-process-destination}
25174 parameter is not set, ham articles are left in place. If the
25175 @code{spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group} parameter is
25176 set, the ham articles are marked as unread before being moved.
25178 If ham can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
25179 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
25181 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
25182 expression! This enables you to send your ham to a regular mail
25183 group and to a @emph{ham training} group.
25185 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
25186 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
25188 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups
25189 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} is
25190 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in spam groups
25191 to be processed. Normally this is not done, you are expected instead
25192 to send your ham to a ham group and process it there.
25194 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups
25195 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups} is
25196 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in non-ham (spam
25197 or unclassified) groups to be processed. Normally this is not done,
25198 you are expected instead to send your ham to a ham group and process
25201 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
25202 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
25203 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
25204 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
25205 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
25206 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
25207 customize this variable with @kbd{M-x customize-variable @key{RET}
25208 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). Each group name list is a standard
25209 Lisp list, if you prefer to customize the variable manually. If the
25210 @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set, the spam
25211 articles are only expired. The group name is fully qualified, meaning
25212 that if you see @samp{nntp:servername} before the group name in the
25213 group buffer then you need it here as well.
25215 If spam can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
25216 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
25218 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
25219 expression! This enables you to send your spam to multiple @emph{spam
25222 @vindex spam-log-to-registry
25223 The problem with processing ham and spam is that Gnus doesn't track
25224 this processing by default. Enable the @code{spam-log-to-registry}
25225 variable so @code{spam.el} will use @code{gnus-registry.el} to track
25226 what articles have been processed, and avoid processing articles
25227 multiple times. Keep in mind that if you limit the number of registry
25228 entries, this won't work as well as it does without a limit.
25230 @vindex spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam
25231 Set this variable if you want only unseen articles in spam groups to
25232 be marked as spam. By default, it is set. If you set it to
25233 @code{nil}, unread articles will also be marked as spam.
25235 @vindex spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group
25236 Set this variable if you want ham to be unmarked before it is moved
25237 out of the spam group. This is very useful when you use something
25238 like the tick mark @samp{!} to mark ham---the article will be placed
25239 in your @code{ham-process-destination}, unmarked as if it came fresh
25240 from the mail server.
25242 @vindex spam-autodetect-recheck-messages
25243 When autodetecting spam, this variable tells @code{spam.el} whether
25244 only unseen articles or all unread articles should be checked for
25245 spam. It is recommended that you leave it off.
25247 @node Spam Package Configuration Examples
25248 @subsection Spam Package Configuration Examples
25249 @cindex spam filtering
25250 @cindex spam filtering configuration examples
25251 @cindex spam configuration examples
25254 @subsubheading Ted's setup
25256 From Ted Zlatanov <tzz@@lifelogs.com>.
25258 ;; @r{for @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent} and spam autodetection}
25259 ;; @r{see @file{gnus-registry.el} for more information}
25260 (gnus-registry-initialize)
25264 spam-log-to-registry t ; @r{for spam autodetection}
25266 spam-use-regex-headers t ; @r{catch X-Spam-Flag (SpamAssassin)}
25267 ;; @r{all groups with @samp{spam} in the name contain spam}
25268 gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
25269 '(("spam" gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
25270 ;; @r{see documentation for these}
25271 spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only nil
25272 spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam t
25273 spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group t
25274 nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
25275 ;; @r{understand what this does before you copy it to your own setup!}
25276 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
25277 ;; @r{trace references to parents and put in their group}
25278 (: gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent)
25279 ;; @r{this will catch server-side SpamAssassin tags}
25280 (: spam-split 'spam-use-regex-headers)
25281 (any "ding" "ding")
25282 ;; @r{note that spam by default will go to @samp{spam}}
25284 ;; @r{default mailbox}
25287 ;; @r{my parameters, set with @kbd{G p}}
25289 ;; @r{all nnml groups, and all nnimap groups except}
25290 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} and}
25291 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam}: any spam goes to nnimap training,}
25292 ;; @r{because it must have been detected manually}
25294 ((spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
25296 ;; @r{all @acronym{NNTP} groups}
25297 ;; @r{autodetect spam with the blacklist and ham with the BBDB}
25298 ((spam-autodetect-methods spam-use-blacklist spam-use-BBDB)
25299 ;; @r{send all spam to the training group}
25300 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
25302 ;; @r{only some @acronym{NNTP} groups, where I want to autodetect spam}
25303 ((spam-autodetect . t))
25305 ;; @r{my nnimap @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam} group}
25307 ;; @r{this is a spam group}
25308 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam)
25310 ;; @r{any spam (which happens when I enter for all unseen messages,}
25311 ;; @r{because of the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} setting above), goes to}
25312 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} unless I mark it as ham}
25314 (spam-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train")
25316 ;; @r{any ham goes to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail} folder, but}
25317 ;; @r{also to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham} folder for training}
25319 (ham-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail"
25320 "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham")
25321 ;; @r{in this group, only @samp{!} marks are ham}
25323 (gnus-ticked-mark))
25324 ;; @r{remembers senders in the blacklist on the way out---this is}
25325 ;; @r{definitely not needed, it just makes me feel better}
25326 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist)))
25328 ;; @r{Later, on the @acronym{IMAP} server I use the @samp{train} group for training}
25329 ;; @r{SpamAssassin to recognize spam, and the @samp{trainham} group fora}
25330 ;; @r{recognizing ham---but Gnus has nothing to do with it.}
25334 @subsubheading Using @code{spam.el} on an IMAP server with a statistical filter on the server
25335 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
25337 My provider has set up bogofilter (in combination with @acronym{DCC}) on
25338 the mail server (@acronym{IMAP}). Recognized spam goes to
25339 @samp{spam.detected}, the rest goes through the normal filter rules,
25340 i.e. to @samp{some.folder} or to @samp{INBOX}. Training on false
25341 positives or negatives is done by copying or moving the article to
25342 @samp{training.ham} or @samp{training.spam} respectively. A cron job on
25343 the server feeds those to bogofilter with the suitable ham or spam
25344 options and deletes them from the @samp{training.ham} and
25345 @samp{training.spam} folders.
25347 With the following entries in @code{gnus-parameters}, @code{spam.el}
25348 does most of the job for me:
25351 ("nnimap:spam\\.detected"
25352 (gnus-article-sort-functions '(gnus-article-sort-by-chars))
25353 (ham-process-destination "nnimap:INBOX" "nnimap:training.ham")
25354 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
25355 ("nnimap:\\(INBOX\\|other-folders\\)"
25356 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap:training.spam")
25357 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham))
25362 @item @b{The Spam folder:}
25364 In the folder @samp{spam.detected}, I have to check for false positives
25365 (i.e. legitimate mails, that were wrongly judged as spam by
25366 bogofilter or DCC).
25368 Because of the @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam} entry, all
25369 messages are marked as spam (with @code{$}). When I find a false
25370 positive, I mark the message with some other ham mark
25371 (@code{ham-marks}, @ref{Spam and Ham Processors}). On group exit,
25372 those messages are copied to both groups, @samp{INBOX} (where I want
25373 to have the article) and @samp{training.ham} (for training bogofilter)
25374 and deleted from the @samp{spam.detected} folder.
25376 The @code{gnus-article-sort-by-chars} entry simplifies detection of
25377 false positives for me. I receive lots of worms (sweN, @dots{}), that all
25378 have a similar size. Grouping them by size (i.e. chars) makes finding
25379 other false positives easier. (Of course worms aren't @i{spam}
25380 (@acronym{UCE}, @acronym{UBE}) strictly speaking. Anyhow, bogofilter is
25381 an excellent tool for filtering those unwanted mails for me.)
25383 @item @b{Ham folders:}
25385 In my ham folders, I just hit @kbd{S x}
25386 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) whenever I see an unrecognized spam
25387 mail (false negative). On group exit, those messages are moved to
25388 @samp{training.spam}.
25391 @subsubheading Reporting spam articles in Gmane groups with @code{spam-report.el}
25393 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
25395 With following entry in @code{gnus-parameters}, @kbd{S x}
25396 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) marks articles in @code{gmane.*}
25397 groups as spam and reports the to Gmane at group exit:
25401 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane)))
25404 Additionally, I use @code{(setq spam-report-gmane-use-article-number nil)}
25405 because I don't read the groups directly from news.gmane.org, but
25406 through my local news server (leafnode). I.e. the article numbers are
25407 not the same as on news.gmane.org, thus @code{spam-report.el} has to check
25408 the @code{X-Report-Spam} header to find the correct number.
25410 @node Spam Back Ends
25411 @subsection Spam Back Ends
25412 @cindex spam back ends
25414 The spam package offers a variety of back ends for detecting spam.
25415 Each back end defines a set of methods for detecting spam
25416 (@pxref{Filtering Incoming Mail}, @pxref{Detecting Spam in Groups}),
25417 and a pair of spam and ham processors (@pxref{Spam and Ham
25421 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
25422 * BBDB Whitelists::
25423 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
25424 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
25426 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
25428 * SpamAssassin back end::
25429 * ifile spam filtering::
25430 * Spam Statistics Filtering::
25434 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
25435 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
25436 @cindex spam filtering
25437 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
25438 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
25441 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
25443 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
25444 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
25445 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
25446 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
25451 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
25453 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
25454 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
25455 whitelist will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
25456 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the whitelist, their
25457 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
25461 @defvar spam-use-whitelist-exclusive
25463 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists as an
25464 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
25465 unless the sender is in the whitelist. Use with care.
25469 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
25471 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25472 customizing the group parameters or the
25473 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25474 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
25475 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
25479 Instead of the obsolete
25480 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist}, it is recommended
25481 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-blacklist)}. Everything will work
25482 the same way, we promise.
25486 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
25488 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25489 customizing the group parameters or the
25490 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25491 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
25492 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
25497 Instead of the obsolete
25498 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist}, it is recommended
25499 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-whitelist)}. Everything will work
25500 the same way, we promise.
25504 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
25505 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
25506 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
25507 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
25508 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
25510 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
25511 legitimate. All messages from whitelisted addresses are considered
25512 non-spam. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the
25513 Emacs regular expression syntax.
25515 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
25516 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
25517 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
25518 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
25519 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
25520 @file{blacklist} respectively.
25522 @node BBDB Whitelists
25523 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
25524 @cindex spam filtering
25525 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
25526 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
25529 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
25531 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
25532 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted
25533 addresses, without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded
25534 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Messages whose senders are
25535 not in the BBDB will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
25536 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the BBDB, their
25537 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
25541 @defvar spam-use-BBDB-exclusive
25543 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use the BBDB as an
25544 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
25545 unless the sender is in the BBDB. Use with care. Only sender
25546 addresses in the BBDB will be allowed through; all others will be
25547 classified as spammers.
25549 While @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} @emph{can} be used as an alias
25550 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} as far as @code{spam.el} is concerned, it is
25551 @emph{not} a separate back end. If you set
25552 @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} to t, @emph{all} your BBDB splitting
25557 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
25559 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25560 customizing the group parameters or the
25561 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25562 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
25563 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
25568 Instead of the obsolete
25569 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB}, it is recommended
25570 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-BBDB)}. Everything will work
25571 the same way, we promise.
25575 @node Gmane Spam Reporting
25576 @subsubsection Gmane Spam Reporting
25577 @cindex spam reporting
25578 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
25579 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
25582 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane
25584 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25585 customizing the group parameters or the
25586 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25587 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
25588 articles groups will be reported to the Gmane administrators via a
25591 Gmane can be found at @uref{http://gmane.org}.
25595 Instead of the obsolete
25596 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane}, it is recommended
25597 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-gmane)}. Everything will work the
25598 same way, we promise.
25602 @defvar spam-report-gmane-use-article-number
25604 This variable is @code{t} by default. Set it to @code{nil} if you are
25605 running your own news server, for instance, and the local article
25606 numbers don't correspond to the Gmane article numbers. When
25607 @code{spam-report-gmane-use-article-number} is @code{nil},
25608 @code{spam-report.el} will fetch the number from the article headers.
25612 @defvar spam-report-user-mail-address
25614 Mail address exposed in the User-Agent spam reports to Gmane. It allows
25615 the Gmane administrators to contact you in case of misreports. The
25616 default is @code{user-mail-address}.
25620 @node Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
25621 @subsubsection Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
25622 @cindex spam filtering
25623 @cindex hashcash, spam filtering
25626 @defvar spam-use-hashcash
25628 Similar to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
25629 Whitelists}), but uses hashcash tokens for whitelisting messages
25630 instead of the sender address. Messages without a hashcash payment
25631 token will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an explicit
25632 filter, meaning that unless a hashcash token is found, the messages
25633 are not assumed to be spam or ham.
25638 @subsubsection Blackholes
25639 @cindex spam filtering
25640 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
25643 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
25645 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
25646 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
25647 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
25648 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
25649 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
25650 contains outdated servers.
25652 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
25653 @code{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
25654 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil}. It is not recommended at
25655 this time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil} despite the
25656 possible performance improvements, because some users may be unable to
25657 use it, but you can try it and see if it works for you.
25661 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
25663 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
25667 @defvar spam-blackhole-good-server-regex
25669 A regular expression for IPs that should not be checked against the
25670 blackhole server list. When set to @code{nil}, it has no effect.
25674 @defvar spam-use-dig
25676 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
25677 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
25681 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
25682 ham processor for blackholes.
25684 @node Regular Expressions Header Matching
25685 @subsubsection Regular Expressions Header Matching
25686 @cindex spam filtering
25687 @cindex regular expressions header matching, spam filtering
25690 @defvar spam-use-regex-headers
25692 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus check the
25693 message headers against lists of regular expressions when you set this
25694 option. The variables @code{spam-regex-headers-spam} and
25695 @code{spam-regex-headers-ham} hold the list of regular expressions.
25696 Gnus will check against the message headers to determine if the
25697 message is spam or ham, respectively.
25701 @defvar spam-regex-headers-spam
25703 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
25704 the message, positively identify it as spam.
25708 @defvar spam-regex-headers-ham
25710 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
25711 the message, positively identify it as ham.
25715 Regular expression header checks are done only on incoming mail.
25716 There is no specific spam or ham processor for regular expressions.
25719 @subsubsection Bogofilter
25720 @cindex spam filtering
25721 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
25724 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
25726 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
25729 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{$} mark for spam
25730 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
25731 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
25732 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
25733 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
25734 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
25736 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on a specific
25737 threshold. That threshold can be customized, consult the Bogofilter
25740 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
25741 processing will be turned off.
25743 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
25752 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
25753 Get the Bogofilter spamicity score (@code{spam-bogofilter-score}).
25756 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
25758 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
25759 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
25760 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
25761 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
25762 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
25763 installation documents for details.
25765 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
25769 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
25770 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25771 customizing the group parameters or the
25772 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25773 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
25774 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
25778 Instead of the obsolete
25779 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
25780 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
25781 the same way, we promise.
25784 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
25785 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25786 customizing the group parameters or the
25787 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25788 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
25789 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
25790 of non-spam messages.
25794 Instead of the obsolete
25795 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
25796 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
25797 the same way, we promise.
25800 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
25802 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
25803 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
25804 database directory.
25808 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to @command{ifile} in intent and
25809 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
25810 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
25811 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
25812 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
25813 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
25815 @node SpamAssassin back end
25816 @subsubsection SpamAssassin back end
25817 @cindex spam filtering
25818 @cindex spamassassin, spam filtering
25821 @defvar spam-use-spamassassin
25823 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use SpamAssassin.
25825 SpamAssassin assigns a score to each article based on a set of rules
25826 and tests, including a Bayesian filter. The Bayesian filter can be
25827 trained by associating the @samp{$} mark for spam articles. The
25828 spam score can be viewed by using the command @kbd{S t} in summary
25831 If you set this variable, each article will be processed by
25832 SpamAssassin when @code{spam-split} is called. If your mail is
25833 preprocessed by SpamAssassin, and you want to just use the
25834 SpamAssassin headers, set @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}
25837 You should not enable this if you use
25838 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}.
25842 @defvar spam-use-spamassassin-headers
25844 Set this variable if your mail is preprocessed by SpamAssassin and
25845 want @code{spam-split} to split based on the SpamAssassin headers.
25847 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-spamassassin}.
25851 @defvar spam-spamassassin-program
25853 This variable points to the SpamAssassin executable. If you have
25854 @code{spamd} running, you can set this variable to the @code{spamc}
25855 executable for faster processing. See the SpamAssassin documentation
25856 for more information on @code{spamd}/@code{spamc}.
25860 SpamAssassin is a powerful and flexible spam filter that uses a wide
25861 variety of tests to identify spam. A ham and a spam processors are
25862 provided, plus the @code{spam-use-spamassassin} and
25863 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers} variables to indicate to
25864 spam-split that SpamAssassin should be either used, or has already
25865 been used on the article. The 2.63 version of SpamAssassin was used
25866 to test this functionality.
25868 @node ifile spam filtering
25869 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
25870 @cindex spam filtering
25871 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
25874 @defvar spam-use-ifile
25876 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use @command{ifile}, a
25877 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
25881 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
25883 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
25884 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
25885 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
25889 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
25891 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
25892 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
25893 the default value of @samp{spam}.
25896 @defvar spam-ifile-database
25898 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
25899 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
25903 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
25904 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
25905 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
25906 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
25909 @node Spam Statistics Filtering
25910 @subsubsection Spam Statistics Filtering
25911 @cindex spam filtering
25912 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
25916 This back end uses the Spam Statistics Emacs Lisp package to perform
25917 statistics-based filtering (@pxref{Spam Statistics Package}). Before
25918 using this, you may want to perform some additional steps to
25919 initialize your Spam Statistics dictionary. @xref{Creating a
25920 spam-stat dictionary}.
25922 @defvar spam-use-stat
25926 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
25927 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25928 customizing the group parameters or the
25929 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25930 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
25931 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
25935 Instead of the obsolete
25936 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
25937 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
25938 the same way, we promise.
25941 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
25942 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25943 customizing the group parameters or the
25944 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25945 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
25946 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
25947 of non-spam messages.
25951 Instead of the obsolete
25952 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
25953 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
25954 the same way, we promise.
25957 This enables @code{spam.el} to cooperate with @file{spam-stat.el}.
25958 @file{spam-stat.el} provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database,
25959 which unlike ifile or Bogofilter does not require external programs.
25960 A spam and a ham processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for
25961 @code{spam-split} are provided.
25964 @subsubsection Using SpamOracle with Gnus
25965 @cindex spam filtering
25969 An easy way to filter out spam is to use SpamOracle. SpamOracle is an
25970 statistical mail filtering tool written by Xavier Leroy and needs to be
25971 installed separately.
25973 There are several ways to use SpamOracle with Gnus. In all cases, your
25974 mail is piped through SpamOracle in its @emph{mark} mode. SpamOracle will
25975 then enter an @samp{X-Spam} header indicating whether it regards the
25976 mail as a spam mail or not.
25978 One possibility is to run SpamOracle as a @code{:prescript} from the
25979 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}, (@pxref{SpamAssassin}). This method has
25980 the advantage that the user can see the @emph{X-Spam} headers.
25982 The easiest method is to make @file{spam.el} (@pxref{Spam Package})
25985 @vindex spam-use-spamoracle
25986 To enable SpamOracle usage by @code{spam.el}, set the variable
25987 @code{spam-use-spamoracle} to @code{t} and configure the
25988 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}. @xref{Spam
25989 Package}. In this example the @samp{INBOX} of an nnimap server is
25990 filtered using SpamOracle. Mails recognized as spam mails will be
25991 moved to @code{spam-split-group}, @samp{Junk} in this case. Ham
25992 messages stay in @samp{INBOX}:
25995 (setq spam-use-spamoracle t
25996 spam-split-group "Junk"
25997 nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX")
25998 nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
25999 nnimap-split-fancy '(| (: spam-split) "INBOX"))
26002 @defvar spam-use-spamoracle
26003 Set to @code{t} if you want Gnus to enable spam filtering using
26007 @defvar spam-spamoracle-binary
26008 Gnus uses the SpamOracle binary called @file{spamoracle} found in the
26009 user's PATH. Using the variable @code{spam-spamoracle-binary}, this
26013 @defvar spam-spamoracle-database
26014 By default, SpamOracle uses the file @file{~/.spamoracle.db} as a database to
26015 store its analysis. This is controlled by the variable
26016 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} which defaults to @code{nil}. That means
26017 the default SpamOracle database will be used. In case you want your
26018 database to live somewhere special, set
26019 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} to this path.
26022 SpamOracle employs a statistical algorithm to determine whether a
26023 message is spam or ham. In order to get good results, meaning few
26024 false hits or misses, SpamOracle needs training. SpamOracle learns
26025 the characteristics of your spam mails. Using the @emph{add} mode
26026 (training mode) one has to feed good (ham) and spam mails to
26027 SpamOracle. This can be done by pressing @kbd{|} in the Summary
26028 buffer and pipe the mail to a SpamOracle process or using
26029 @file{spam.el}'s spam- and ham-processors, which is much more
26030 convenient. For a detailed description of spam- and ham-processors,
26031 @xref{Spam Package}.
26033 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle
26034 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
26035 customizing the group parameter or the
26036 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
26037 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles will be
26038 sent to SpamOracle as spam samples.
26042 Instead of the obsolete
26043 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
26044 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
26045 the same way, we promise.
26048 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle
26049 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
26050 customizing the group parameter or the
26051 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
26052 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked articles in
26053 @emph{ham} groups will be sent to the SpamOracle as samples of ham
26058 Instead of the obsolete
26059 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
26060 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
26061 the same way, we promise.
26064 @emph{Example:} These are the Group Parameters of a group that has been
26065 classified as a ham group, meaning that it should only contain ham
26068 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham)
26069 (spam-process ((ham spam-use-spamoracle)
26070 (spam spam-use-spamoracle))))
26072 For this group the @code{spam-use-spamoracle} is installed for both
26073 ham and spam processing. If the group contains spam message
26074 (e.g. because SpamOracle has not had enough sample messages yet) and
26075 the user marks some messages as spam messages, these messages will be
26076 processed by SpamOracle. The processor sends the messages to
26077 SpamOracle as new samples for spam.
26079 @node Extending the Spam package
26080 @subsection Extending the Spam package
26081 @cindex spam filtering
26082 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
26083 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
26085 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
26086 incoming mail, provide the following:
26094 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
26095 "True if blackbox should be used.")
26098 Write @code{spam-check-blackbox} if Blackbox can check incoming mail.
26100 Write @code{spam-blackbox-register-routine} and
26101 @code{spam-blackbox-unregister-routine} using the bogofilter
26102 register/unregister routines as a start, or other restister/unregister
26103 routines more appropriate to Blackbox, if Blackbox can
26104 register/unregister spam and ham.
26109 The @code{spam-check-blackbox} function should return @samp{nil} or
26110 @code{spam-split-group}, observing the other conventions. See the
26111 existing @code{spam-check-*} functions for examples of what you can
26112 do, and stick to the template unless you fully understand the reasons
26117 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
26124 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
26125 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
26127 Also, ham and spam processors are being phased out as single
26128 variables. Instead the form @code{(spam spam-use-blackbox)} or
26129 @code{(ham spam-use-blackbox)} is favored. For now, spam/ham
26130 processor variables are still around but they won't be for long.
26133 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-spam"
26134 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
26135 Only applicable to spam groups.")
26137 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-ham"
26138 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
26139 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
26148 (const :tag "Spam: Blackbox" (spam spam-use-blackbox))
26149 (const :tag "Ham: Blackbox" (ham spam-use-blackbox))
26151 to the @code{spam-process} group parameter in @code{gnus.el}. Make
26152 sure you do it twice, once for the parameter and once for the
26153 variable customization.
26157 (variable-item spam-use-blackbox)
26159 to the @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group parameter in
26160 @code{gnus.el} if Blackbox can check incoming mail for spam contents.
26162 Finally, use the appropriate @code{spam-install-*-backend} function in
26163 @code{spam.el}. Here are the available functions.
26169 @code{spam-install-backend-alias}
26171 This function will simply install an alias for a back end that does
26172 everything like the original back end. It is currently only used to
26173 make @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} act like @code{spam-use-BBDB}.
26176 @code{spam-install-nocheck-backend}
26178 This function installs a back end that has no check function, but can
26179 register/unregister ham or spam. The @code{spam-use-gmane} back end is
26183 @code{spam-install-checkonly-backend}
26185 This function will install a back end that can only check incoming mail
26186 for spam contents. It can't register or unregister messages.
26187 @code{spam-use-blackholes} and @code{spam-use-hashcash} are such
26191 @code{spam-install-statistical-checkonly-backend}
26193 This function installs a statistical back end (one which requires the
26194 full body of a message to check it) that can only check incoming mail
26195 for contents. @code{spam-use-regex-body} is such a filter.
26198 @code{spam-install-statistical-backend}
26200 This function install a statistical back end with incoming checks and
26201 registration/unregistration routines. @code{spam-use-bogofilter} is
26205 @code{spam-install-backend}
26207 This is the most normal back end installation, where a back end that can
26208 check and register/unregister messages is set up without statistical
26209 abilities. The @code{spam-use-BBDB} is such a back end.
26212 @code{spam-install-mover-backend}
26214 Mover back ends are internal to @code{spam.el} and specifically move
26215 articles around when the summary is exited. You will very probably
26216 never install such a back end.
26221 @node Spam Statistics Package
26222 @subsection Spam Statistics Package
26223 @cindex Paul Graham
26224 @cindex Graham, Paul
26225 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
26226 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
26227 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
26229 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
26230 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
26231 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
26232 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
26233 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
26234 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
26235 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
26236 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
26237 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
26240 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
26241 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
26242 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
26243 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
26244 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
26245 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
26246 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
26247 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
26249 The Spam Statistics package adds support to Gnus for this kind of
26250 filtering. It can be used as one of the back ends of the Spam package
26251 (@pxref{Spam Package}), or by itself.
26253 Before using the Spam Statistics package, you need to set it up.
26254 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
26255 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
26256 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
26257 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
26260 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
26261 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
26262 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
26265 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
26266 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
26268 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
26269 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
26270 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
26271 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
26272 need several hundred emails in both collections.
26274 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
26275 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
26276 per mail. Use the following:
26278 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
26279 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
26280 is treated as one spam mail.
26283 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
26284 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
26285 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
26288 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
26289 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds to
26290 the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
26291 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
26292 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds to the group
26293 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
26295 When you are using @acronym{IMAP}, you won't have the mails available
26296 locally, so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent
26297 to cache the articles. Then you can use directories such as
26298 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
26299 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
26302 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics---the
26303 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
26304 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
26305 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
26308 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
26309 reset the dictionary.
26311 @defun spam-stat-reset
26312 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
26315 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
26316 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
26317 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
26318 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
26319 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
26320 only non-spam mails.
26322 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
26323 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
26324 to update the dictionary incrementally.
26327 @defun spam-stat-save
26328 Save the dictionary.
26331 @defvar spam-stat-file
26332 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
26333 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
26336 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
26337 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
26339 This section describes how to use the Spam statistics
26340 @emph{independently} of the @xref{Spam Package}.
26342 First, add the following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
26345 (require 'spam-stat)
26349 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
26352 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
26353 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
26354 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
26355 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
26357 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
26358 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
26359 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
26360 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
26363 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
26364 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
26368 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
26369 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
26372 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
26373 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
26374 expression are considered potential spam.
26377 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
26378 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
26379 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
26383 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
26384 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
26385 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
26386 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
26387 mails, when creating the dictionary!
26390 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
26391 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
26392 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
26396 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
26397 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
26398 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
26399 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
26400 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
26404 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
26405 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
26406 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
26407 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
26412 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
26413 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
26415 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
26417 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
26418 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
26419 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
26422 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
26423 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
26424 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
26427 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
26428 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
26429 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
26430 already been processed as non-spam.
26433 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
26434 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
26435 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
26436 been processed as spam.
26439 @defun spam-stat-save
26440 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
26441 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
26444 @defun spam-stat-load
26445 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
26446 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
26449 @defun spam-stat-score-word
26450 Return the spam score for a word.
26453 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
26454 Return the spam score for a buffer.
26457 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
26458 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
26459 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
26462 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
26463 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
26466 (require 'spam-stat)
26470 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
26473 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
26474 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
26475 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
26476 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
26477 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
26478 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
26479 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
26480 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
26481 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
26482 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
26483 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
26484 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
26485 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
26486 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
26489 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
26492 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
26493 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
26494 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
26495 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
26496 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
26497 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
26501 @section Interaction with other modes
26506 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} provides some useful functions for dired
26507 buffers. It is enabled with
26509 (add-hook 'dired-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-dired-mode)
26514 @findex gnus-dired-attach
26515 @cindex attachments, selection via dired
26516 Send dired's marked files as an attachment (@code{gnus-dired-attach}).
26517 You will be prompted for a message buffer.
26520 @findex gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap
26521 Visit a file according to the appropriate mailcap entry
26522 (@code{gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap}). With prefix, open file in a new
26526 @findex gnus-dired-print
26527 Print file according to the mailcap entry (@code{gnus-dired-print}). If
26528 there is no print command, print in a PostScript image.
26531 @node Various Various
26532 @section Various Various
26538 @item gnus-home-directory
26539 @vindex gnus-home-directory
26540 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
26541 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
26543 @item gnus-directory
26544 @vindex gnus-directory
26545 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
26546 this variable, which defaults to the @env{SAVEDIR} environment
26547 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
26549 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{~/.gnus.el} file is read.
26550 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
26551 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
26552 @file{~/.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
26554 @item gnus-default-directory
26555 @vindex gnus-default-directory
26556 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
26557 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
26558 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
26559 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
26560 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
26561 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
26564 @vindex gnus-verbose
26565 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
26566 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
26567 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
26568 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
26569 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
26571 @item gnus-verbose-backends
26572 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
26573 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
26574 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
26576 @item gnus-add-timestamp-to-message
26577 @vindex gnus-add-timestamp-to-message
26578 This variable controls whether to add timestamps to messages that are
26579 controlled by @code{gnus-verbose} and @code{gnus-verbose-backends} and
26580 are issued. The default value is @code{nil} which means never to add
26581 timestamp. If it is @code{log}, add timestamps to only the messages
26582 that go into the @samp{*Messages*} buffer (in XEmacs, it is the
26583 @w{@samp{ *Message-Log*}} buffer). If it is neither @code{nil} nor
26584 @code{log}, add timestamps not only to log messages but also to the ones
26585 displayed in the echo area.
26587 @item nnheader-max-head-length
26588 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
26589 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
26590 as little as possible. This variable (default 8192) specifies
26591 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
26592 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
26593 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
26594 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
26595 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
26596 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
26598 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
26599 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
26600 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
26601 read when doing the operation described above.
26603 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
26604 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
26606 @cindex invalid characters in file names
26607 @cindex characters in file names
26608 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
26609 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
26610 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
26614 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
26619 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
26620 Windows (phooey) systems.
26622 @item gnus-hidden-properties
26623 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
26624 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
26625 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
26626 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
26628 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
26629 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
26630 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
26631 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
26632 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
26634 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
26635 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
26636 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
26638 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
26639 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
26641 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
26642 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
26643 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
26644 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
26647 @acronym{IMAP} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
26655 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
26656 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
26658 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
26660 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
26666 Not because of victories @*
26669 but for the common sunshine,@*
26671 the largess of the spring.
26675 but for the day's work done@*
26676 as well as I was able;@*
26677 not for a seat upon the dais@*
26678 but at the common table.@*
26683 @chapter Appendices
26686 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
26687 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
26688 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
26689 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
26690 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
26691 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
26692 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
26693 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
26694 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
26701 @cindex installing under XEmacs
26703 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
26704 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
26705 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{mail-lib}, @samp{xemacs-base},
26706 @samp{eterm}, @samp{sh-script}, @samp{net-utils}, @samp{os-utils},
26707 @samp{dired}, @samp{mh-e}, @samp{sieve}, @samp{ps-print}, @samp{W3},
26708 @samp{pgg}, @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{ecrypto}, and @samp{sasl}.
26715 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
26716 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
26718 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
26719 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
26720 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
26721 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
26722 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
26724 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
26725 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
26726 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
26727 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
26728 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
26729 appropriate name, don't you think?)
26731 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
26732 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
26733 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
26734 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
26737 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
26738 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
26739 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
26740 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
26741 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
26742 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
26743 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
26744 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
26745 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
26749 @node Gnus Versions
26750 @subsection Gnus Versions
26752 @cindex September Gnus
26754 @cindex Quassia Gnus
26755 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
26758 @cindex Gnus versions
26760 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
26761 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
26762 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
26764 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
26765 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
26767 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
26768 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
26770 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
26771 It was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
26773 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
26774 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
26777 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun and was released as
26778 Gnus 5.10 on May 1st 2003 (24 releases).
26780 On the January 4th 2004, No Gnus was begun.
26782 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
26783 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
26784 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'', ``No Gnus'' -- don't panic.
26785 Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever
26786 you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach.
26787 Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
26790 @node Other Gnus Versions
26791 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
26794 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
26795 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
26796 Japan. It's based on a library called @acronym{SEMI}, which provides
26797 @acronym{MIME} capabilities.
26799 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
26800 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
26801 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
26802 @acronym{MIME} and multilingualization things, especially important for
26809 What's the point of Gnus?
26811 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
26812 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
26813 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
26814 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
26815 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
26816 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
26817 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
26818 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
26819 keep track of millions of people who post?
26821 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
26822 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
26823 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
26824 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
26825 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
26826 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
26827 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
26828 every one of you to explore and invent.
26830 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
26831 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
26834 @node Compatibility
26835 @subsection Compatibility
26837 @cindex compatibility
26838 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
26839 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
26840 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
26845 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
26849 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
26852 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
26855 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
26856 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
26857 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
26858 important variables have their values copied into their global
26859 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
26860 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
26862 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
26863 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
26864 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
26865 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
26866 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
26870 @cindex highlighting
26871 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
26872 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
26873 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
26874 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
26875 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
26876 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
26879 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
26880 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
26881 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
26882 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
26884 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
26885 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
26886 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
26887 to stop doing it the old way.
26889 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
26891 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
26893 @cindex reporting bugs
26895 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
26896 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
26897 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
26899 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
26900 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
26901 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
26902 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
26907 @subsection Conformity
26909 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
26910 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
26918 There are no known breaches of this standard.
26922 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
26924 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
26925 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
26926 We do have some breaches to this one.
26932 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
26933 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
26934 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
26935 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
26936 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
26941 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
26942 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
26943 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
26944 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
26946 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
26947 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
26948 All the various @acronym{MIME} RFCs are supported.
26950 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
26951 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
26953 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
26956 RFC 1991 is the original @acronym{PGP} message specification,
26957 published as an informational RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now
26958 called Open PGP, and put on the Standards Track. Both document a
26959 non-@acronym{MIME} aware @acronym{PGP} format. Gnus supports both
26960 encoding (signing and encryption) and decoding (verification and
26963 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
26964 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
26965 1991) describes the @acronym{MIME}-wrapping around the RFC 1991/2440 format.
26966 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
26968 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
26969 RFC 2633 describes the @acronym{S/MIME} format.
26971 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
26972 RFC 1730 is @acronym{IMAP} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060
26973 (@acronym{IMAP} 4 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5
26974 authentication for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2086 describes access control
26975 lists (ACLs) for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2359 describes a @acronym{IMAP}
26976 protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper @acronym{TLS}
26977 integration (STARTTLS) with @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 1731 describes the
26978 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @acronym{IMAP}.
26982 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
26983 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
26988 @subsection Emacsen
26994 This version of Gnus should work on:
27002 XEmacs 21.4 and up.
27006 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
27007 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
27008 Emacs versions. Particularly, Gnus 5.10.8 should also work on Emacs
27009 20.7 and XEmacs 21.1.
27011 @c No-merge comment: The paragraph added in v5-10 here must not be
27014 @node Gnus Development
27015 @subsection Gnus Development
27017 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
27018 discussion on the development mailing list @samp{ding@@gnus.org}, where people
27019 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
27020 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
27021 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
27022 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
27023 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
27024 have names like ``Oort Gnus'' and ``No Gnus''. @xref{Gnus Versions}.
27026 After futzing around for 10-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
27027 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
27028 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.10.1'' instead. Normal people are
27029 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
27030 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup. This newgroup is mirrored to the
27031 mailing list @samp{info-gnus-english@@gnu.org} which is carried on Gmane
27032 as @samp{gmane.emacs.gnus.user}. These releases are finally integrated
27036 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
27037 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae,
27038 in particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming}. This is to prevent
27039 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
27040 @xref{Mail Source Customization}.
27042 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
27043 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
27044 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
27045 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
27046 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
27047 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
27048 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
27049 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
27050 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
27051 can't be assumed to do so.
27053 So if you have problems with or questions about the alpha versions,
27054 direct those to the ding mailing list @samp{ding@@gnus.org}. This list
27055 is also available on Gmane as @samp{gmane.emacs.gnus.general}.
27058 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
27059 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae,
27060 in particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming}. This is to prevent
27061 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
27062 @xref{Mail Source Customization}.
27065 @subsection Contributors
27066 @cindex contributors
27068 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
27069 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
27070 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
27071 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
27072 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
27073 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
27074 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
27075 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
27076 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
27077 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
27079 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for@dots{} oops,
27085 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
27088 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
27089 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @acronym{MIME} and
27090 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
27091 functionality and stuff.
27094 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
27095 well as numerous other things).
27098 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
27101 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
27104 Justin Sheehy---the @acronym{FAQ} maintainer.
27107 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
27110 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
27111 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
27114 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
27117 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section.
27120 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
27123 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
27126 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
27129 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
27132 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
27133 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
27136 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
27139 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
27142 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
27145 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
27149 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
27152 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
27155 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
27158 Fran@,{c}ois Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
27159 well as autoconf support.
27163 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
27164 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
27166 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
27181 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
27183 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
27187 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
27197 Alexei V. Barantsev,
27212 Massimo Campostrini,
27217 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
27218 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
27222 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
27225 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
27231 Michael Welsh Duggan,
27236 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
27240 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
27248 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
27250 Michelangelo Grigni,
27254 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
27256 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c Hayashi
27258 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
27266 Fran@,{c}ois Felix Ingrand,
27267 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c Ichikawa
27268 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
27270 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
27280 Peter Skov Knudsen,
27281 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
27283 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
27284 Thor Kristoffersen,
27287 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
27305 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
27306 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
27313 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
27318 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
27322 John McClary Prevost,
27328 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
27333 Christian von Roques,
27336 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
27343 Philippe Schnoebelen,
27345 Randal L. Schwartz,
27359 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
27364 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
27384 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
27385 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
27386 (550kB and counting).
27388 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
27391 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
27392 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
27396 @subsection New Features
27397 @cindex new features
27400 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
27401 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
27402 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
27403 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
27404 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
27405 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
27406 * No Gnus:: Very punny.
27409 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
27410 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
27411 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
27414 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
27416 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
27421 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
27422 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
27425 Local spool and several @acronym{NNTP} servers can be used at once
27426 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
27429 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
27432 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
27433 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
27434 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
27437 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
27438 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
27439 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
27440 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
27443 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
27444 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
27447 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
27448 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
27449 (@pxref{The Active File}).
27452 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
27453 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
27456 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
27457 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
27458 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
27461 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
27462 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
27463 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
27466 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{~/.gnus.el}) to avoid
27467 cluttering up the @file{.emacs} file.
27470 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
27471 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
27474 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
27475 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
27478 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
27479 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
27482 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
27483 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
27486 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
27487 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
27490 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
27493 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
27494 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
27497 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
27498 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
27501 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
27502 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
27505 Gnus can fetch @acronym{FAQ}s and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
27508 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
27509 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
27512 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
27516 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
27520 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
27521 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
27524 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
27530 @node September Gnus
27531 @subsubsection September Gnus
27535 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
27539 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
27544 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
27545 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
27549 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
27550 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
27554 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
27558 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
27559 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
27562 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
27566 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions.
27569 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
27572 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
27575 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
27579 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
27580 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
27583 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
27587 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
27591 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
27595 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
27599 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
27602 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
27603 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
27606 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
27610 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
27611 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
27614 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
27617 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
27618 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
27619 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
27622 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
27626 The Gnus cache is much faster.
27629 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
27633 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
27634 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
27637 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
27638 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
27641 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
27642 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
27645 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
27646 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
27647 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
27650 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
27651 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
27654 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
27657 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
27660 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
27663 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
27666 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
27667 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
27670 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
27674 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
27677 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
27682 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
27685 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
27689 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
27692 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
27696 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
27699 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
27702 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
27703 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
27706 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
27707 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
27711 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
27712 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
27715 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
27719 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
27720 buffer to allow easier treatment.
27723 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
27726 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
27730 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
27734 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
27735 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
27738 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
27742 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
27743 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
27746 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
27747 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
27750 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
27754 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
27757 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
27760 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
27766 @subsubsection Red Gnus
27768 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
27772 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
27779 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
27782 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
27783 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
27786 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
27787 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
27791 Article washing status can be displayed in the
27792 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
27795 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
27798 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
27799 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
27802 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
27806 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
27807 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
27811 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
27812 Server Internals}).
27815 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
27819 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
27822 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
27823 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
27826 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
27827 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
27828 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
27831 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
27832 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
27835 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
27836 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
27839 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
27843 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
27844 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
27847 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
27848 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
27851 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
27855 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
27858 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
27862 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
27863 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
27866 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
27867 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
27870 A new command for reading collections of documents
27871 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
27872 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
27875 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
27879 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @acronym{NNTP}
27880 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
27883 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
27884 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
27885 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
27888 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
27889 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
27893 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
27897 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
27901 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
27906 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
27910 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
27914 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
27915 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
27918 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
27924 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
27926 New features in Gnus 5.6:
27931 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
27932 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added.
27933 @xref{Gnus Unplugged}, for the full story.
27936 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
27937 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
27938 group, which is created automatically.
27941 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
27945 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
27948 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
27949 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
27952 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
27956 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
27959 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
27960 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
27963 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
27966 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. @xref{Symbolic Prefixes}, for
27970 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
27971 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the @file{all.SCORE} file.
27974 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
27975 control over simplification.
27978 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
27981 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
27985 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
27988 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
27991 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
27992 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
27993 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
27996 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
27997 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
28000 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
28004 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
28005 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
28008 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
28009 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @acronym{NNTP} servers.
28012 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
28016 A history of where mails have been split is available.
28019 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
28022 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
28023 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
28026 A new function for citing in Message has been
28027 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
28030 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
28033 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
28037 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
28038 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
28041 The ``lapsed date'' article header can be kept continually
28042 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
28045 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
28048 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
28052 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
28053 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
28055 New features in Gnus 5.8:
28060 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
28061 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
28063 If you used procmail like in
28066 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
28067 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
28068 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
28069 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
28072 this now has changed to
28076 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
28080 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}.
28083 Gnus is now a @acronym{MIME}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
28084 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
28087 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
28088 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
28091 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
28092 called to position point.
28095 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
28096 summary buffers and @acronym{NOV} files.
28099 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
28100 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
28103 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
28104 subtly different manner.
28107 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
28108 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
28109 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
28112 Gnus can now read @acronym{IMAP} mail via @code{nnimap}.
28117 @subsubsection Oort Gnus
28120 New features in Gnus 5.10:
28124 @item Installation changes
28125 @c ***********************
28129 Upgrading from previous (stable) version if you have used Oort.
28131 If you have tried Oort (the unstable Gnus branch leading to this
28132 release) but went back to a stable version, be careful when upgrading to
28133 this version. In particular, you will probably want to remove all
28134 @file{.marks} (nnml) and @file{.mrk} (nnfolder) files, so that flags are
28135 read from your @file{.newsrc.eld} instead of from the
28136 @file{.marks}/@file{.mrk} file where this release store flags. See a
28137 later entry for more information about marks. Note that downgrading
28138 isn't save in general.
28141 Lisp files are now installed in @file{.../site-lisp/gnus/} by default.
28142 It defaulted to @file{.../site-lisp/} formerly. In addition to this,
28143 the new installer issues a warning if other Gnus installations which
28144 will shadow the latest one are detected. You can then remove those
28145 shadows manually or remove them using @code{make
28146 remove-installed-shadows}.
28149 New @file{make.bat} for compiling and installing Gnus under MS Windows
28151 Use @file{make.bat} if you want to install Gnus under MS Windows, the
28152 first argument to the batch-program should be the directory where
28153 @file{xemacs.exe} respectively @file{emacs.exe} is located, if you want
28154 to install Gnus after compiling it, give @file{make.bat} @code{/copy} as
28155 the second parameter.
28157 @file{make.bat} has been rewritten from scratch, it now features
28158 automatic recognition of XEmacs and GNU Emacs, generates
28159 @file{gnus-load.el}, checks if errors occur while compilation and
28160 generation of info files and reports them at the end of the build
28161 process. It now uses @code{makeinfo} if it is available and falls
28162 back to @file{infohack.el} otherwise. @file{make.bat} should now
28163 install all files which are necessary to run Gnus and be generally a
28164 complete replacement for the @code{configure; make; make install}
28165 cycle used under Unix systems.
28167 The new @file{make.bat} makes @file{make-x.bat} and @file{xemacs.mak}
28168 superfluous, so they have been removed.
28171 @file{~/News/overview/} not used.
28173 As a result of the following change, the @file{~/News/overview/}
28174 directory is not used any more. You can safely delete the entire
28177 @c FIXME: `gnus-load' is mentioned in README, which is not included in
28178 @c CVS. We should find a better place for this item.
28180 @code{(require 'gnus-load)}
28182 If you use a stand-alone Gnus distribution, you'd better add
28183 @code{(require 'gnus-load)} into your @file{~/.emacs} after adding the Gnus
28184 lisp directory into load-path.
28186 File @file{gnus-load.el} contains autoload commands, functions and variables,
28187 some of which may not be included in distributions of Emacsen.
28191 @item New packages and libraries within Gnus
28192 @c *****************************************
28197 The revised Gnus @acronym{FAQ} is included in the manual,
28198 @xref{Frequently Asked Questions}.
28201 @acronym{TLS} wrapper shipped with Gnus
28203 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is now supported in @acronym{IMAP} and
28204 @acronym{NNTP} via @file{tls.el} and GNUTLS. The old
28205 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} support via (external third party)
28206 @file{ssl.el} and OpenSSL still works.
28209 Improved anti-spam features.
28211 Gnus is now able to take out spam from your mail and news streams
28212 using a wide variety of programs and filter rules. Among the supported
28213 methods are RBL blocklists, bogofilter and white/blacklists. Hooks
28214 for easy use of external packages such as SpamAssassin and Hashcash
28215 are also new. @ref{Thwarting Email Spam} and @ref{Spam Package}.
28216 @c FIXME: @xref{Spam Package}?. Should this be under Misc?
28219 Gnus supports server-side mail filtering using Sieve.
28221 Sieve rules can be added as Group Parameters for groups, and the
28222 complete Sieve script is generated using @kbd{D g} from the Group
28223 buffer, and then uploaded to the server using @kbd{C-c C-l} in the
28224 generated Sieve buffer. @xref{Sieve Commands}, and the new Sieve
28225 manual @ref{Top, , Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
28229 @item Changes in group mode
28230 @c ************************
28235 @code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group} can be called interactively,
28239 Retrieval of charters and control messages
28241 There are new commands for fetching newsgroup charters (@kbd{H c}) and
28242 control messages (@kbd{H C}).
28245 The new variable @code{gnus-parameters} can be used to set group parameters.
28247 Earlier this was done only via @kbd{G p} (or @kbd{G c}), which stored
28248 the parameters in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, but via this variable you can
28249 enjoy the powers of customize, and simplified backups since you set the
28250 variable in @file{~/.gnus.el} instead of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. The
28251 variable maps regular expressions matching group names to group
28254 (setq gnus-parameters
28256 (gnus-show-threads nil)
28257 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
28258 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
28259 (to-group . "\\1"))))
28263 Unread count correct in nnimap groups.
28265 The estimated number of unread articles in the group buffer should now
28266 be correct for nnimap groups. This is achieved by calling
28267 @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} from the
28268 @code{gnus-setup-news-hook} (called on startup) and
28269 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook}. (called after getting new
28270 mail). If you have modified those variables from the default, you may
28271 want to add @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} again. If
28272 you were happy with the estimate and want to save some (minimal) time
28273 when getting new mail, remove the function.
28276 Group names are treated as UTF-8 by default.
28278 This is supposedly what USEFOR wanted to migrate to. See
28279 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} and
28280 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} for customization.
28283 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} and
28284 @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
28286 The regexps in these variables are compared with full group names
28287 instead of real group names in 5.8. Users who customize these
28288 variables should change those regexps accordingly. For example:
28290 ("^han\\>" euc-kr) -> ("\\(^\\|:\\)han\\>" euc-kr)
28294 Old intermediate incoming mail files (@file{Incoming*}) are deleted
28295 after a couple of days, not immediately. @xref{Mail Source
28296 Customization}. (New in Gnus 5.10.10 / Emacs 22.2)
28300 @item Changes in summary and article mode
28301 @c **************************************
28306 @kbd{F} (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}) and @kbd{R}
28307 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}) only yank the text in the
28308 region if the region is active.
28311 In draft groups, @kbd{e} is now bound to @code{gnus-draft-edit-message}.
28312 Use @kbd{B w} for @code{gnus-summary-edit-article} instead.
28317 More buttons for URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man
28318 pages and Emacs or Gnus related references. @xref{Article Buttons}. The
28319 variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} can be used to control the
28320 appearance of all article buttons. @xref{Article Button Levels}.
28323 Single-part yenc encoded attachments can be decoded.
28328 The picons code has been reimplemented to work in GNU Emacs---some of
28329 the previous options have been removed or renamed.
28331 Picons are small ``personal icons'' representing users, domain and
28332 newsgroups, which can be displayed in the Article buffer.
28336 If the new option @code{gnus-treat-body-boundary} is non-@code{nil}, a
28337 boundary line is drawn at the end of the headers.
28340 Signed article headers (X-PGP-Sig) can be verified with @kbd{W p}.
28343 The Summary Buffer uses an arrow in the fringe to indicate the current
28344 article. Use @code{(setq gnus-summary-display-arrow nil)} to disable it.
28347 Warn about email replies to news
28349 Do you often find yourself replying to news by email by mistake? Then
28350 the new option @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} is just the thing for
28354 If the new option @code{gnus-summary-display-while-building} is
28355 non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer is shown and updated as it's being
28359 The new @code{recent} mark @samp{.} indicates newly arrived messages (as
28360 opposed to old but unread messages).
28363 Gnus supports RFC 2369 mailing list headers, and adds a number of
28364 related commands in mailing list groups. @xref{Mailing List}.
28367 The Date header can be displayed in a format that can be read aloud
28368 in English. @xref{Article Date}.
28371 diffs are automatically highlighted in groups matching
28372 @code{mm-uu-diff-groups-regexp}
28375 Better handling of Microsoft citation styles
28377 Gnus now tries to recognize the mangled header block that some Microsoft
28378 mailers use to indicate that the rest of the message is a citation, even
28379 though it is not quoted in any way. The variable
28380 @code{gnus-cite-unsightly-citation-regexp} matches the start of these
28383 The new command @kbd{W Y f}
28384 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}) allows deuglifying broken
28385 Outlook (Express) articles.
28388 @code{gnus-article-skip-boring}
28390 If you set @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} to @code{t}, then Gnus will
28391 not scroll down to show you a page that contains only boring text,
28392 which by default means cited text and signature. You can customize
28393 what is skippable using @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}.
28395 This feature is especially useful if you read many articles that
28396 consist of a little new content at the top with a long, untrimmed
28397 message cited below.
28400 Smileys (@samp{:-)}, @samp{;-)} etc) are now displayed graphically in
28403 Put @code{(setq gnus-treat-display-smileys nil)} in @file{~/.gnus.el} to
28407 Face headers handling. @xref{Face}.
28410 In the summary buffer, the new command @kbd{/ N} inserts new messages
28411 and @kbd{/ o} inserts old messages.
28414 Gnus decodes morse encoded messages if you press @kbd{W m}.
28417 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}
28419 The default value changed to @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%)
28420 %s\n}. Moreover @code{gnus-extra-headers},
28421 @code{nnmail-extra-headers} and @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses}
28422 changed their default so that the users name will be replaced by the
28423 recipient's name or the group name posting to for @acronym{NNTP}
28427 Deleting of attachments.
28429 The command @code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip} (bound to @kbd{C-o}
28430 on @acronym{MIME} buttons) saves a part and replaces the part with an
28431 external one. @code{gnus-mime-delete-part} (bound to @kbd{d} on
28432 @acronym{MIME} buttons) removes a part. It works only on back ends
28433 that support editing.
28436 @code{gnus-default-charset}
28438 The default value is determined from the
28439 @code{current-language-environment} variable, instead of
28440 @code{iso-8859-1}. Also the @samp{.*} item in
28441 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} is removed.
28444 Printing capabilities are enhanced.
28446 Gnus supports Muttprint natively with @kbd{O P} from the Summary and
28447 Article buffers. Also, each individual @acronym{MIME} part can be
28448 printed using @kbd{p} on the @acronym{MIME} button.
28451 Extended format specs.
28453 Format spec @samp{%&user-date;} is added into
28454 @code{gnus-summary-line-format-alist}. Also, user defined extended
28455 format specs are supported. The extended format specs look like
28456 @samp{%u&foo;}, which invokes function
28457 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{foo}}. Because @samp{&} is used as the
28458 escape character, old user defined format @samp{%u&} is no longer supported.
28461 @kbd{/ *} (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}) is rewritten.
28462 @c FIXME: Was this a user-visible change?
28464 It was aliased to @kbd{Y c}
28465 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}). The new function filters
28466 out other articles.
28469 Some limiting commands accept a @kbd{C-u} prefix to negate the match.
28471 If @kbd{C-u} is used on subject, author or extra headers, i.e., @kbd{/
28472 s}, @kbd{/ a}, and @kbd{/ x}
28473 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-@{subject,author,extra@}}) respectively, the
28474 result will be to display all articles that do not match the expression.
28477 Gnus inlines external parts (message/external).
28481 @item Changes in Message mode and related Gnus features
28482 @c ****************************************************
28489 You can delay the sending of a message with @kbd{C-c C-j} in the Message
28490 buffer. The messages are delivered at specified time. This is useful
28491 for sending yourself reminders. @xref{Delayed Articles}.
28494 If the new option @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil},
28495 the nnml back end allows compressed message files.
28498 The new option @code{gnus-gcc-mark-as-read} automatically marks
28499 Gcc articles as read.
28502 Externalizing of attachments
28504 If @code{gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments} or
28505 @code{message-fcc-externalize-attachments} is non-@code{nil}, attach
28506 local files as external parts.
28509 The envelope sender address can be customized when using Sendmail.
28510 @xref{Mail Variables, Mail Variables,, message, Message Manual}.
28513 Gnus no longer generate the Sender: header automatically.
28515 Earlier it was generated when the user configurable email address was
28516 different from the Gnus guessed default user address. As the guessing
28517 algorithm is rarely correct these days, and (more controversially) the
28518 only use of the Sender: header was to check if you are entitled to
28519 cancel/supersede news (which is now solved by Cancel Locks instead,
28520 see another entry), generation of the header has been disabled by
28521 default. See the variables @code{message-required-headers},
28522 @code{message-required-news-headers}, and
28523 @code{message-required-mail-headers}.
28526 Features from third party @file{message-utils.el} added to @file{message.el}.
28528 Message now asks if you wish to remove @samp{(was: <old subject>)} from
28529 subject lines (see @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query}). @kbd{C-c
28530 M-m} and @kbd{C-c M-f} inserts markers indicating included text.
28531 @kbd{C-c C-f a} adds a X-No-Archive: header. @kbd{C-c C-f x} inserts
28532 appropriate headers and a note in the body for cross-postings and
28533 followups (see the variables @code{message-cross-post-@var{*}}).
28536 References and X-Draft-From headers are no longer generated when you
28537 start composing messages and @code{message-generate-headers-first} is
28541 Easy inclusion of X-Faces headers. @xref{X-Face}.
28544 Group Carbon Copy (GCC) quoting
28546 To support groups that contains SPC and other weird characters, groups
28547 are quoted before they are placed in the Gcc: header. This means
28548 variables such as @code{gnus-message-archive-group} should no longer
28549 contain quote characters to make groups containing SPC work. Also, if
28550 you are using the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar} (indicating Gcc
28551 into two groups) you must change it to return the list
28552 @code{("nnml:foo" "nnml:bar")}, otherwise the Gcc: line will be quoted
28553 incorrectly. Note that returning the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar}
28554 was incorrect earlier, it just didn't generate any problems since it
28555 was inserted directly.
28558 @code{message-insinuate-rmail}
28560 Adding @code{(message-insinuate-rmail)} and @code{(setq
28561 mail-user-agent 'gnus-user-agent)} in @file{.emacs} convinces Rmail to
28562 compose, reply and forward messages in message-mode, where you can
28563 enjoy the power of @acronym{MML}.
28566 @code{message-minibuffer-local-map}
28568 The line below enables BBDB in resending a message:
28570 (define-key message-minibuffer-local-map [(tab)]
28571 'bbdb-complete-name)
28575 @code{gnus-posting-styles}
28577 Add a new format of match like
28579 ((header "to" "larsi.*org")
28580 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
28582 The old format like the lines below is obsolete, but still accepted.
28584 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
28585 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
28589 @code{message-ignored-news-headers} and @code{message-ignored-mail-headers}
28591 @samp{X-Draft-From} and @samp{X-Gnus-Agent-Meta-Information} have been
28592 added into these two variables. If you customized those, perhaps you
28593 need add those two headers too.
28596 Gnus supports the ``format=flowed'' (RFC 2646) parameter. On
28597 composing messages, it is enabled by @code{use-hard-newlines}.
28598 Decoding format=flowed was present but not documented in earlier
28602 The option @code{mm-fill-flowed} can be used to disable treatment of
28603 ``format=flowed'' messages. Also, flowed text is disabled when sending
28604 inline PGP signed messages. @xref{Flowed text, , Flowed text,
28605 emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
28606 @c This entry is also present in the node "No Gnus".
28609 Gnus supports the generation of RFC 2298 Disposition Notification requests.
28611 This is invoked with the @kbd{C-c M-n} key binding from message mode.
28614 Message supports the Importance: (RFC 2156) header.
28616 In the message buffer, @kbd{C-c C-f C-i} or @kbd{C-c C-u} cycles through
28620 Gnus supports Cancel Locks in News.
28622 This means a header @samp{Cancel-Lock} is inserted in news posting. It is
28623 used to determine if you wrote an article or not (for canceling and
28624 superseding). Gnus generates a random password string the first time
28625 you post a message, and saves it in your @file{~/.emacs} using the Custom
28626 system. While the variable is called @code{canlock-password}, it is not
28627 security sensitive data. Publishing your canlock string on the web
28628 will not allow anyone to be able to anything she could not already do.
28629 The behavior can be changed by customizing @code{message-insert-canlock}.
28632 Gnus supports @acronym{PGP} (RFC 1991/2440), @acronym{PGP/MIME} (RFC
28633 2015/3156) and @acronym{S/MIME} (RFC 2630-2633).
28635 It needs an external @acronym{S/MIME} and OpenPGP implementation, but no
28636 additional Lisp libraries. This add several menu items to the
28637 Attachments menu, and @kbd{C-c RET} key bindings, when composing
28638 messages. This also obsoletes @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook}.
28641 @acronym{MML} (Mime compose) prefix changed from @kbd{M-m} to @kbd{C-c
28644 This change was made to avoid conflict with the standard binding of
28645 @code{back-to-indentation}, which is also useful in message mode.
28648 The default for @code{message-forward-show-mml} changed to the symbol
28651 The behavior for the @code{best} value is to show @acronym{MML} (i.e.,
28652 convert to @acronym{MIME}) when appropriate. @acronym{MML} will not be
28653 used when forwarding signed or encrypted messages, as the conversion
28654 invalidate the digital signature.
28657 If @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled, attachments are automatically
28658 decompressed when activated.
28659 @c FIXME: Does this affect article or message mode?
28662 Support for non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names
28664 Message supports non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To: and
28665 Cc: and will query you whether to perform encoding when you try to
28666 send a message. The variable @code{message-use-idna} controls this.
28667 Gnus will also decode non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To:
28668 and Cc: when you view a message. The variable @code{gnus-use-idna}
28671 @item You can now drag and drop attachments to the Message buffer.
28672 See @code{mml-dnd-protocol-alist} and @code{mml-dnd-attach-options}.
28673 @xref{MIME, ,MIME, message, Message Manual}.
28674 @c New in 5.10.9 / 5.11 (Emacs 22.1)
28676 @item @code{auto-fill-mode} is enabled by default in Message mode.
28677 See @code{message-fill-column}. @xref{Various Message Variables, ,
28678 Message Headers, message, Message Manual}.
28679 @c New in Gnus 5.10.12 / 5.11 (Emacs 22.3)
28683 @item Changes in back ends
28684 @c ***********************
28688 Gnus can display RSS newsfeeds as a newsgroup. @xref{RSS}.
28691 The nndoc back end now supports mailman digests and exim bounces.
28694 Gnus supports Maildir groups.
28696 Gnus includes a new back end @file{nnmaildir.el}. @xref{Maildir}.
28699 The nnml and nnfolder back ends store marks for each groups.
28701 This makes it possible to take backup of nnml/nnfolder servers/groups
28702 separately of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, while preserving marks. It also
28703 makes it possible to share articles and marks between users (without
28704 sharing the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file) within e.g. a department. It
28705 works by storing the marks stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld} in a per-group
28706 file @file{.marks} (for nnml) and @file{@var{groupname}.mrk} (for
28707 nnfolder, named @var{groupname}). If the nnml/nnfolder is moved to
28708 another machine, Gnus will automatically use the @file{.marks} or
28709 @file{.mrk} file instead of the information in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
28710 The new server variables @code{nnml-marks-is-evil} and
28711 @code{nnfolder-marks-is-evil} can be used to disable this feature.
28721 The menu bar item (in Group and Summary buffer) named ``Misc'' has
28722 been renamed to ``Gnus''.
28725 The menu bar item (in Message mode) named ``@acronym{MML}'' has been
28726 renamed to ``Attachments''. Note that this menu also contains security
28727 related stuff, like signing and encryption (@pxref{Security, Security,,
28728 message, Message Manual}).
28731 The tool bars have been updated to use GNOME icons in Group, Summary and
28732 Message mode. You can also customize the tool bars: @kbd{M-x
28733 customize-apropos RET -tool-bar$} should get you started. This is a new
28734 feature in Gnus 5.10.10. (Only for Emacs, not in XEmacs.)
28736 @item The tool bar icons are now (de)activated correctly
28737 in the group buffer, see the variable @code{gnus-group-update-tool-bar}.
28738 Its default value depends on your Emacs version. This is a new feature
28743 @item Miscellaneous changes
28744 @c ************************
28751 The Gnus Agent has seen a major updated and is now enabled by default,
28752 and all nntp and nnimap servers from @code{gnus-select-method} and
28753 @code{gnus-secondary-select-method} are agentized by default. Earlier
28754 only the server in @code{gnus-select-method} was agentized by the
28755 default, and the agent was disabled by default. When the agent is
28756 enabled, headers are now also retrieved from the Agent cache instead
28757 of the back ends when possible. Earlier this only happened in the
28758 unplugged state. You can enroll or remove servers with @kbd{J a} and
28759 @kbd{J r} in the server buffer. Gnus will not download articles into
28760 the Agent cache, unless you instruct it to do so, though, by using
28761 @kbd{J u} or @kbd{J s} from the Group buffer. You revert to the old
28762 behavior of having the Agent disabled with @code{(setq gnus-agent
28763 nil)}. Note that putting @code{(gnus-agentize)} in @file{~/.gnus.el}
28764 is not needed any more.
28767 Gnus reads the @acronym{NOV} and articles in the Agent if plugged.
28769 If one reads an article while plugged, and the article already exists
28770 in the Agent, it won't get downloaded once more. @code{(setq
28771 gnus-agent-cache nil)} reverts to the old behavior.
28776 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} (see @ref{Other modes}) installs key
28777 bindings in dired buffers to send a file as an attachment, open a file
28778 using the appropriate mailcap entry, and print a file using the mailcap
28782 The format spec @code{%C} for positioning point has changed to @code{%*}.
28785 @code{gnus-slave-unplugged}
28787 A new command which starts Gnus offline in slave mode.
28794 @subsubsection No Gnus
28797 New features in No Gnus:
28798 @c FIXME: Gnus 5.12?
28800 @include gnus-news.texi
28806 @section The Manual
28810 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
28811 either @code{texi2dvi}
28813 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
28814 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
28816 to get what you hold in your hands now.
28818 The following conventions have been used:
28823 This is a @samp{string}
28826 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
28829 This is a @file{file}
28832 This is a @code{symbol}
28836 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
28840 (setq flargnoze "yes")
28843 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
28846 (setq flumphel 'yes)
28849 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
28850 ever get them confused.
28854 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
28855 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
28856 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
28857 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
28858 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
28859 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
28860 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
28866 @node On Writing Manuals
28867 @section On Writing Manuals
28869 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
28870 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
28871 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
28872 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
28873 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
28874 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code go hand
28877 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
28878 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
28879 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
28882 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
28883 reference manual as source material. It would look quite different.
28888 @section Terminology
28890 @cindex terminology
28895 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
28896 News is generally fetched from a nearby @acronym{NNTP} server, and is
28897 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
28898 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
28899 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
28903 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
28904 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
28905 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
28906 not posting, and replying is not following up.
28910 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
28914 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
28919 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
28920 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
28921 commonly fetched via the protocol @acronym{NNTP}, whereas mail
28922 messages could be read from a file on the local disk. The internal
28923 architecture of Gnus thus comprises a ``front end'' and a number of
28924 ``back ends''. Internally, when you enter a group (by hitting
28925 @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke a function in the front end in
28926 Gnus. The front end then ``talks'' to a back end and says things like
28927 ``Give me the list of articles in the foo group'' or ``Show me article
28930 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back
28931 end accesses news via @acronym{NNTP}, the @code{nnimap} back end
28932 accesses mail via @acronym{IMAP}) or a file format and directory
28933 layout (the @code{nnspool} back end accesses news via the common
28934 ``spool directory'' format, the @code{nnml} back end access mail via a
28935 file format and directory layout that's quite similar).
28937 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
28938 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
28939 access the articles.
28941 However, sometimes the term ``back end'' is also used where ``server''
28942 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term ``select
28943 method'' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
28948 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
28949 default, way of getting news.
28953 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
28954 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
28959 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
28960 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
28964 A message that has been posted as news.
28967 @cindex mail message
28968 A message that has been mailed.
28972 A mail message or news article
28976 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
28981 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
28986 A line from the head of an article.
28990 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
28991 collection of @acronym{NOV} lines.
28993 @item @acronym{NOV}
28994 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
28995 @acronym{NOV} stands for News OverView, which is a type of news server
28996 header which provide datas containing the condensed header information
28997 of articles. They are produced by the server itself; in the @code{nntp}
28998 back end Gnus uses the ones that the @acronym{NNTP} server makes, but
28999 Gnus makes them by itself for some backends (in particular, @code{nnml}).
29001 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
29002 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
29003 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
29004 normal @sc{head} format.
29006 The @acronym{NOV} data consist of one or more text lines (@pxref{Text
29007 Lines, ,Motion by Text Lines, elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual})
29008 where each line has the header information of one article. The header
29009 information is a tab-separated series of the header's contents including
29010 an article number, a subject, an author, a date, a message-id,
29013 Those data enable Gnus to generate summary lines quickly. However, if
29014 the server does not support @acronym{NOV} or you disable it purposely or
29015 for some reason, Gnus will try to generate the header information by
29016 parsing each article's headers one by one. It will take time.
29017 Therefore, it is not usually a good idea to set nn*-nov-is-evil
29018 (@pxref{Slow/Expensive Connection}) to a non-@code{nil} value unless you
29019 know that the server makes wrong @acronym{NOV} data.
29023 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
29024 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
29025 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
29026 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
29027 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
29028 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
29030 @item killed groups
29031 @cindex killed groups
29032 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
29033 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
29035 @item zombie groups
29036 @cindex zombie groups
29037 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
29040 @cindex active file
29041 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
29042 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
29043 is rather large, as you might surmise.
29046 @cindex bogus groups
29047 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
29048 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
29049 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
29052 @cindex activating groups
29053 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
29054 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
29055 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
29059 News servers store their articles locally in one fashion or other.
29060 One old-fashioned storage method is to have just one file per
29061 article. That's called a ``traditional spool''.
29065 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
29067 @item select method
29068 @cindex select method
29069 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
29072 @item virtual server
29073 @cindex virtual server
29074 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
29075 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
29076 whole is a virtual server.
29080 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
29081 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
29084 @item ephemeral groups
29085 @cindex ephemeral groups
29086 @cindex temporary groups
29087 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
29088 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
29089 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
29092 @cindex solid groups
29093 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
29094 group buffer are solid groups.
29096 @item sparse articles
29097 @cindex sparse articles
29098 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
29099 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
29103 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
29104 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
29108 @cindex thread root
29109 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
29110 articles in the thread.
29114 An article that has responses.
29118 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
29122 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
29123 specified by RFC 1153.
29126 @cindex splitting, terminology
29127 @cindex mail sorting
29128 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
29129 The action of sorting your emails according to certain rules. Sometimes
29130 incorrectly called mail filtering.
29136 @node Customization
29137 @section Customization
29138 @cindex general customization
29140 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
29141 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
29142 for some quite common situations.
29145 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
29146 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
29147 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
29148 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
29152 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
29153 @subsection Slow/Expensive Connection
29155 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
29156 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
29157 Gnus has to get from the server.
29161 @item gnus-read-active-file
29162 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
29163 entire active file from the server. This file is often very large. You
29164 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
29165 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
29166 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
29168 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
29169 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
29170 Usually this one must @emph{always} be @code{nil} (which is the
29171 default). If, for example, you wish to not use @acronym{NOV}
29172 (@pxref{Terminology}) with the @code{nntp} back end (@pxref{Crosspost
29173 Handling}), set @code{nntp-nov-is-evil} to a non-@code{nil} value
29174 instead of setting this. But you normally do not need to set
29175 @code{nntp-nov-is-evil} since Gnus by itself will detect whether the
29176 @acronym{NNTP} server supports @acronym{NOV}. Anyway, grabbing article
29177 headers from the @acronym{NNTP} server will not be very fast if you tell
29178 Gnus not to use @acronym{NOV}.
29180 As the variables for the other back ends, there are
29181 @code{nndiary-nov-is-evil}, @code{nndir-nov-is-evil},
29182 @code{nnfolder-nov-is-evil}, @code{nnimap-nov-is-evil},
29183 @code{nnml-nov-is-evil}, @code{nnspool-nov-is-evil}, and
29184 @code{nnwarchive-nov-is-evil}. Note that a non-@code{nil} value for
29185 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} overrides all those variables.@footnote{Although
29186 the back ends @code{nnkiboze}, @code{nnslashdot}, @code{nnultimate}, and
29187 @code{nnwfm} don't have their own nn*-nov-is-evil.}
29191 @node Slow Terminal Connection
29192 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
29194 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
29195 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
29196 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
29200 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
29201 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
29202 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
29203 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
29204 horizontal and vertical recentering.
29206 @item gnus-visible-headers
29207 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
29208 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
29209 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
29210 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
29212 Use the following to enable all the available hiding features:
29214 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
29215 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
29216 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
29219 @item gnus-use-full-window
29220 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
29221 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
29222 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
29223 want to read them anyway.
29225 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
29226 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
29230 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
29231 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
29232 lines, which might save some time.
29236 @node Little Disk Space
29237 @subsection Little Disk Space
29240 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
29241 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
29245 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
29246 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
29247 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
29248 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
29251 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
29252 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
29253 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
29254 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
29257 @item gnus-save-killed-list
29258 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
29259 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
29260 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
29261 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
29267 @subsection Slow Machine
29268 @cindex slow machine
29270 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
29271 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
29273 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
29274 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
29276 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
29277 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
29278 summary buffer faster. Also @pxref{Slow/Expensive Connection}.
29282 @node Troubleshooting
29283 @section Troubleshooting
29284 @cindex troubleshooting
29286 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
29294 Make sure your computer is switched on.
29297 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
29298 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
29302 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
29304 @samp{No Gnus v0.10} @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change this line!
29306 you have the right files loaded. Otherwise you have some old @file{.el}
29307 files lying around. Delete these.
29310 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a
29311 @acronym{FAQ} and a how-to.
29314 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
29315 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
29316 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
29317 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
29318 something like that.
29321 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
29324 @cindex reporting bugs
29326 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
29328 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
29329 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
29330 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
29331 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
29333 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
29334 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
29335 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
29336 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
29339 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
29340 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
29341 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
29342 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
29343 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
29344 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
29346 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
29347 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
29348 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
29352 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
29353 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
29356 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
29357 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
29358 edebug. Debugging Lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
29359 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
29360 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
29361 you discover some weird behavior when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
29362 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
29363 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
29364 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
29365 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
29366 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
29367 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
29368 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
29369 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
29374 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate an elisp error but
29375 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
29376 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press @kbd{C-g} when things are
29377 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
29378 helps isolating the real problem areas).
29380 A fancier approach is to use the elisp profiler, ELP. The profiler is
29381 (or should be) fully documented elsewhere, but to get you started
29382 there are a few steps that need to be followed. First, instrument the
29383 part of Gnus you are interested in for profiling, e.g. @kbd{M-x
29384 elp-instrument-package RET gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package
29385 RET message}. Then perform the operation that is slow and press
29386 @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will then see which operations that takes
29387 time, and can debug them further. If the entire operation takes much
29388 longer than the time spent in the slowest function in the profiler
29389 output, you probably profiled the wrong part of Gnus. To reset
29390 profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x
29391 elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove profiling, but given the
29392 complexities and dynamic code generation in Gnus, it might not always
29395 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
29396 @cindex ding mailing list
29397 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
29398 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful. You can also ask on
29399 @email{ding@@gnus.org, the ding mailing list}. Write to
29400 @email{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
29404 @node Gnus Reference Guide
29405 @section Gnus Reference Guide
29407 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
29408 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
29409 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
29410 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
29413 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
29414 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
29415 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
29416 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
29417 and general methods of operation.
29420 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
29421 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
29422 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
29423 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
29424 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
29425 * Group Info:: The group info format.
29426 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
29427 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
29428 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
29432 @node Gnus Utility Functions
29433 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
29434 @cindex Gnus utility functions
29435 @cindex utility functions
29437 @cindex internal variables
29439 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
29440 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
29441 Below is a list of the most common ones.
29445 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
29446 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
29447 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
29449 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
29450 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
29451 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
29453 @item gnus-group-real-name
29454 @findex gnus-group-real-name
29455 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
29458 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
29459 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
29460 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
29461 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
29463 @item gnus-get-info
29464 @findex gnus-get-info
29465 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
29467 @item gnus-group-unread
29468 @findex gnus-group-unread
29469 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
29473 @findex gnus-active
29474 The active entry for @var{group}.
29476 @item gnus-set-active
29477 @findex gnus-set-active
29478 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
29480 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
29481 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
29482 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
29485 @item gnus-continuum-version
29486 @findex gnus-continuum-version
29487 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
29488 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
29491 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
29492 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
29493 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
29495 @item gnus-news-group-p
29496 @findex gnus-news-group-p
29497 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
29499 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
29500 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
29501 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
29503 @item gnus-server-to-method
29504 @findex gnus-server-to-method
29505 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
29507 @item gnus-server-equal
29508 @findex gnus-server-equal
29509 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
29511 @item gnus-group-native-p
29512 @findex gnus-group-native-p
29513 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
29515 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
29516 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
29517 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
29519 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
29520 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
29521 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
29523 @item gnus-group-find-parameter
29524 @findex gnus-group-find-parameter
29525 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
29526 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
29528 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
29529 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
29530 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
29532 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
29533 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
29534 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
29536 @item gnus-check-backend-function
29537 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
29538 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
29539 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
29542 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
29546 @item gnus-read-method
29547 @findex gnus-read-method
29548 Prompts the user for a select method.
29553 @node Back End Interface
29554 @subsection Back End Interface
29556 Gnus doesn't know anything about @acronym{NNTP}, spools, mail or virtual
29557 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
29558 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
29559 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
29560 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
29561 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
29563 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
29564 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
29565 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
29566 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
29567 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
29568 been opened, the function should fail.
29570 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
29571 name. Take this example:
29575 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
29576 (nntp-port-number 4324))
29579 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
29580 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
29582 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
29583 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
29584 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
29586 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
29587 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
29588 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
29590 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
29591 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
29592 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
29593 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
29594 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
29595 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
29598 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
29599 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
29600 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
29601 ---they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
29604 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
29605 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
29606 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
29607 possible for later articles to ``re-use'' older article numbers without
29608 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
29609 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
29610 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
29611 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
29612 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
29613 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
29615 The previous paragraph already mentions all the ``hard'' restrictions that
29616 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
29617 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
29618 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
29619 the ``no-reuse'' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
29620 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
29621 of numbers as long as possible.
29623 Note that by convention, back ends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
29624 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
29625 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
29627 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
29630 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
29633 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
29634 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
29635 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
29636 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
29637 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
29638 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
29642 @node Required Back End Functions
29643 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
29647 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
29649 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
29650 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
29651 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
29652 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
29654 The result data should either be HEADs or @acronym{NOV} lines, and the result
29655 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
29656 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
29657 of HEADs and @acronym{NOV} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
29659 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching ``extra
29660 headers'', in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
29661 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
29662 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
29663 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
29664 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
29665 number, do maximum fetches.
29667 Here's an example HEAD:
29670 221 1056 Article retrieved.
29671 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
29672 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
29673 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
29674 Subject: Re: Something very droll
29675 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
29676 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
29678 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
29679 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
29680 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
29684 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
29685 these in the data buffer.
29687 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
29691 head = error / valid-head
29692 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
29693 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
29694 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
29695 header = <text> eol
29699 (The version of BNF used here is the one used in RFC822.)
29701 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
29702 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
29706 nov-buffer = *nov-line
29707 nov-line = field 7*8[ <TAB> field ] eol
29708 field = <text except TAB>
29711 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
29715 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
29717 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
29718 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
29720 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
29721 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
29722 server. In fact, it should do so.
29724 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
29725 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
29728 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
29730 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
29731 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
29734 There should be no data returned.
29737 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
29739 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
29740 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
29741 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
29742 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
29744 There should be no data returned.
29747 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
29749 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
29750 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
29751 non-@code{nil} value. This function should under no circumstances
29752 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
29754 There should be no data returned.
29757 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
29759 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
29761 There should be no data returned.
29764 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
29766 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
29767 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
29768 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
29769 it would be nice if that were possible.
29771 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
29772 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
29773 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
29774 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
29775 into its article buffer.
29777 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
29778 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
29779 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
29780 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
29781 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
29782 on successful article retrieval.
29785 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
29787 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
29788 making @var{group} the current group.
29790 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
29793 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
29796 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
29799 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
29800 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
29801 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
29802 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
29803 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
29804 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
29805 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
29806 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
29807 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
29811 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
29812 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
29813 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
29817 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
29819 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
29820 a no-op on most back ends.
29822 There should be no data returned.
29825 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
29827 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
29830 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
29833 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
29834 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
29837 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
29838 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
29839 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
29840 and the highest as 0.
29843 active-file = *active-line
29844 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
29846 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
29849 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
29850 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
29851 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
29854 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
29856 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
29857 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
29858 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
29859 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
29860 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
29861 clear if the posting could not be completed.
29863 There should be no result data from this function.
29868 @node Optional Back End Functions
29869 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
29873 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
29875 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
29876 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
29877 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
29879 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
29880 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
29881 former is in the same format as the data from
29882 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
29883 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
29886 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
29890 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
29892 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
29893 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all
29894 the information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
29895 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
29896 should return a non-@code{nil} value (exceptionally,
29897 @code{nntp-request-update-info} always returns @code{nil} not to waste
29898 the network resources).
29900 There should be no result data from this function.
29903 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
29905 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
29906 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
29907 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
29908 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
29909 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
29910 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
29911 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
29912 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
29914 There should be no result data from this function.
29917 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
29919 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
29920 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
29921 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @acronym{IMAP}) however carry
29922 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
29923 propagate the mark information to the server.
29925 @var{action} is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
29928 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
29931 @var{range} is a range of articles you wish to update marks on.
29932 @var{action} is @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove
29933 marks (preserving all marks not mentioned). @var{mark} is a list of
29934 marks; where each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are
29935 @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
29936 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
29937 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
29938 possible, not limit itself to these.
29940 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
29941 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
29942 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
29943 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
29945 An example action list:
29948 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
29949 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
29950 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
29953 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
29954 mark on (currently not used for anything).
29956 There should be no result data from this function.
29958 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
29960 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
29961 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
29962 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
29963 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
29964 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
29966 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
29967 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
29968 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
29971 There should be no result data from this function.
29974 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
29976 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
29977 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
29978 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query
29979 the @acronym{POP} server when this function is invoked. The
29980 @var{group} doesn't have to be heeded---if the back end decides that
29981 it is too much work just scanning for a single group, it may do a
29982 total scan of all groups. It would be nice, however, to keep things
29983 local if that's practical.
29985 There should be no result data from this function.
29988 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
29990 The result data from this function should be a description of
29994 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
29996 description = <text>
29999 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
30001 The result data from this function should be the description of all
30002 groups available on the server.
30005 description-buffer = *description-line
30009 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
30011 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
30012 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
30013 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
30014 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
30015 in the active buffer format.
30017 It is okay for this function to return ``too many'' groups; some back ends
30018 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
30019 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
30020 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
30021 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
30022 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
30023 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
30026 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
30028 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
30030 There should be no return data.
30033 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
30035 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
30036 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
30037 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
30038 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
30039 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
30042 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
30045 There should be no result data returned.
30048 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM &optional LAST)
30050 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
30051 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
30053 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
30054 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
30055 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
30056 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
30057 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
30058 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
30060 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
30061 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
30064 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
30065 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
30067 There should be no data returned.
30070 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
30072 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
30073 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
30074 this function in short order.
30076 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
30077 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
30079 The group should exist before the back end is asked to accept the
30080 article for that group.
30082 There should be no data returned.
30085 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
30087 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
30088 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
30090 There should be no data returned.
30093 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
30095 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
30096 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
30097 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
30099 There should be no data returned.
30102 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
30104 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
30105 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
30107 There should be no data returned.
30112 @node Error Messaging
30113 @subsubsection Error Messaging
30115 @findex nnheader-report
30116 @findex nnheader-get-report
30117 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
30118 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
30119 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
30120 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
30121 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
30122 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
30125 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
30127 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
30130 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
30131 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
30132 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
30133 takes one argument---the server symbol.
30135 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
30136 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
30137 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
30140 @node Writing New Back Ends
30141 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
30143 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
30144 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
30145 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
30146 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
30147 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
30150 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
30151 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
30152 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
30154 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
30155 package called @code{nnoo}.
30157 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
30158 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
30164 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
30165 parameters. For instance:
30168 (nnoo-declare nndir
30172 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
30173 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
30176 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
30177 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
30178 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
30180 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
30181 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
30182 a function in those back ends.
30185 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
30186 "Where nndir will look for groups."
30187 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
30190 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
30191 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
30192 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
30194 @item nnoo-define-basics
30195 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
30199 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
30203 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
30204 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
30205 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
30207 @item nnoo-map-functions
30208 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
30209 functions from the parent back ends.
30212 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
30213 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
30214 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
30217 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
30218 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
30219 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
30220 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
30223 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
30224 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
30225 haven't already been defined.
30231 nnmh-request-newgroups)
30235 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
30236 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
30237 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
30242 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
30245 ;;; @r{nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus}
30246 ;; @r{Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.}
30250 (require 'nnheader)
30254 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
30256 (nnoo-declare nndir
30259 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
30260 "Where nndir will look for groups."
30261 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
30263 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
30264 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
30267 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
30269 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
30270 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
30271 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
30273 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
30274 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
30276 ;;; @r{Interface functions.}
30278 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
30280 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
30281 (setq nndir-directory
30282 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
30284 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
30285 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
30286 (push `(nndir-current-group
30287 ,(file-name-nondirectory
30288 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
30290 (push `(nndir-top-directory
30291 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
30293 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
30295 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
30296 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
30297 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
30298 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
30299 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
30303 nnmh-status-message
30305 nnmh-request-newgroups))
30311 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
30312 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
30314 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
30315 @findex gnus-declare-backend
30316 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
30317 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
30318 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
30320 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
30321 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
30326 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
30329 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
30331 The abilities can be:
30335 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
30337 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
30339 This back end supports both mail and news.
30341 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
30344 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
30345 articles and groups.
30347 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
30348 true for almost all back ends.
30349 @item prompt-address
30350 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
30351 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
30352 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
30356 @node Mail-like Back Ends
30357 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
30359 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
30360 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
30361 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
30362 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
30365 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
30366 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
30367 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
30370 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
30371 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
30374 This function takes four parameters.
30378 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
30381 @item exit-function
30382 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
30384 @item temp-directory
30385 Where the temporary files should be stored.
30388 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
30389 performed for one group only.
30392 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
30393 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
30394 find the article number assigned to this article.
30396 The function also uses the following variables:
30397 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
30398 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
30399 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
30400 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
30404 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
30405 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
30409 @node Score File Syntax
30410 @subsection Score File Syntax
30412 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
30413 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
30414 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
30416 Here's a typical score file:
30420 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
30427 BNF definition of a score file:
30430 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
30431 element = rule / atom
30432 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
30433 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
30434 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
30435 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
30437 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
30438 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
30439 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
30440 date-header = "date"
30441 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
30442 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
30443 score = "nil" / <integer>
30444 date = "nil" / <natural number>
30445 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
30446 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
30447 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
30448 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
30449 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
30450 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
30451 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
30452 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
30453 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
30454 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
30455 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
30456 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
30457 exclude-files / read-only / touched
30458 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
30459 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
30460 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
30461 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
30462 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
30463 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
30464 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
30465 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
30466 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
30467 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
30468 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
30469 eval = "eval" space <form>
30470 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
30473 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
30476 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
30477 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
30478 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
30479 one looong line, then that's ok.
30481 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
30482 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
30486 @subsection Headers
30488 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
30489 corresponds to the @acronym{NOV} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
30490 almost suspect that the author looked at the @acronym{NOV} specification and
30491 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
30493 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
30494 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
30495 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
30496 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
30497 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
30498 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
30499 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
30501 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
30502 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
30503 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
30504 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
30505 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
30507 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
30508 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
30514 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
30515 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
30517 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
30518 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
30519 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
30520 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
30522 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
30526 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
30529 is transformed into
30532 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
30535 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
30536 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
30539 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
30542 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
30543 is slightly tricky:
30546 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
30552 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
30555 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
30561 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
30568 and is equal to the previous range.
30570 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
30571 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
30572 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
30576 range = simple-range / normal-range
30577 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
30578 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
30579 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
30580 number *[ " " contents ]
30583 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
30584 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
30585 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
30586 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
30587 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
30592 @subsection Group Info
30594 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
30595 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
30596 describes the group.
30598 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
30599 second is a more complex one:
30602 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
30604 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
30605 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
30607 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
30610 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
30611 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
30612 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
30613 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
30614 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
30615 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
30616 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
30617 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
30618 this section is about.
30620 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
30621 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
30622 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
30624 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
30627 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
30628 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
30629 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
30630 group = quote <string> quote
30631 ralevel = rank / level
30632 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
30633 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
30634 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
30636 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
30637 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
30638 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
30639 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
30642 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
30643 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
30646 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
30647 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
30650 @item gnus-info-group
30651 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
30652 @findex gnus-info-group
30653 @findex gnus-info-set-group
30654 Get/set the group name.
30656 @item gnus-info-rank
30657 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
30658 @findex gnus-info-rank
30659 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
30660 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
30662 @item gnus-info-level
30663 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
30664 @findex gnus-info-level
30665 @findex gnus-info-set-level
30666 Get/set the group level.
30668 @item gnus-info-score
30669 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
30670 @findex gnus-info-score
30671 @findex gnus-info-set-score
30672 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
30674 @item gnus-info-read
30675 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
30676 @findex gnus-info-read
30677 @findex gnus-info-set-read
30678 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
30680 @item gnus-info-marks
30681 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
30682 @findex gnus-info-marks
30683 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
30684 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
30686 @item gnus-info-method
30687 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
30688 @findex gnus-info-method
30689 @findex gnus-info-set-method
30690 Get/set the group select method.
30692 @item gnus-info-params
30693 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
30694 @findex gnus-info-params
30695 @findex gnus-info-set-params
30696 Get/set the group parameters.
30699 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
30700 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
30702 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
30703 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
30704 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
30705 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
30708 @node Extended Interactive
30709 @subsection Extended Interactive
30710 @cindex interactive
30711 @findex gnus-interactive
30713 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
30714 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
30715 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
30718 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
30719 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
30724 The best thing to do would have been to implement
30725 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
30726 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
30727 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
30728 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
30729 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
30730 @code{interactive}.
30732 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
30737 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
30738 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
30742 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
30743 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
30744 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
30747 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
30751 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
30755 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
30761 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
30762 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
30766 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
30767 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
30768 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
30770 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
30771 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
30772 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
30773 Gnus, that's very useful.
30775 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
30776 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
30777 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
30778 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
30779 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
30780 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
30781 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
30782 following function:
30785 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
30789 (,function ,@@args))
30793 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
30794 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
30795 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
30798 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
30799 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
30800 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
30802 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
30803 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
30804 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
30807 @node Various File Formats
30808 @subsection Various File Formats
30811 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
30812 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
30816 @node Active File Format
30817 @subsubsection Active File Format
30819 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
30820 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
30823 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
30826 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
30827 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
30828 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
30829 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
30830 no.general 1000 900 y
30833 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
30836 active = *group-line
30837 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
30838 group = <non-white-space string>
30840 high-number = <non-negative integer>
30841 low-number = <positive integer>
30842 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
30845 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
30846 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
30849 @node Newsgroups File Format
30850 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
30852 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
30853 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
30854 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
30857 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
30858 Here's the definition:
30862 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
30863 group = <non-white-space string>
30865 description = <string>
30870 @node Emacs for Heathens
30871 @section Emacs for Heathens
30873 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
30874 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
30875 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
30876 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
30877 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
30878 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
30879 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
30883 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
30884 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
30889 @subsection Keystrokes
30893 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
30896 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
30899 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
30900 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
30901 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
30902 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
30903 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
30904 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
30906 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
30907 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
30908 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
30909 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
30910 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
30911 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
30912 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
30914 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
30915 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
30916 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
30917 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
30918 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
30919 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
30920 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
30922 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
30923 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
30924 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
30925 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
30926 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
30932 @subsection Emacs Lisp
30934 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
30935 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
30936 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
30937 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
30939 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
30940 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
30941 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
30942 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
30943 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
30944 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
30945 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{~/.gnus.el}
30946 file to customize Gnus. (You can also use the @file{~/.emacs} file, but
30947 in order to set things of Gnus up, it is much better to use the
30948 @file{~/.gnus.el} file, @xref{Startup Files}.)
30950 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
30951 write the following:
30954 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
30957 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
30958 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
30959 you can go and fill your @file{~/.gnus.el} file with lots of these to
30960 change how Gnus works.
30962 If you have put that thing in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, it will be
30963 read and @code{eval}ed (which is Lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
30964 start Gnus. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
30965 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
30966 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
30968 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
30969 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
30970 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
30974 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
30978 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
30981 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
30982 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
30985 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
30988 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
30989 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
30992 @include gnus-faq.texi
30994 @node GNU Free Documentation License
30995 @chapter GNU Free Documentation License
30996 @include doclicense.texi
31016 @c Local Variables:
31018 @c coding: iso-8859-1
31022 arch-tag: c9fa47e7-78ca-4681-bda9-9fef45d1c819