\input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
@comment %**start of header (This is for running Texinfo on a region.)
@setfilename gnus.info
-@settitle Gnus 5.0 Manual
+@settitle September Gnus Manual
@synindex fn cp
@synindex vr cp
@synindex pg cp
@iftex
@titlepage
-@title Gnus Manual
+@title September Gnus Manual
@author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
@page
@top The Gnus Newsreader
You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
-can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of - @sc{nntp}, local
+can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
luck.
* The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
* The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
* The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
+* Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
* Various:: General purpose settings.
* Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
* Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
* The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
-* Appendix:: Technical stuff for technical people.
+* Appendices:: Technical stuff, Emacs intro, FAQ
* Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
* Key Index:: Key Index.
@end menu
@sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu UMEDA. When autumn crept up in '94,
Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
-The recommended pronunciation of the name this program is "ding
-guh-noose", with "ding" being half-sung in a loud, high-pitched voice,
-and "guh-noose" being grumbled and a disaffected fashion. Any
-irritation and/or damage this name may cause you is not the
-responsibility of the author, even though you might like to strangle him
-for the stupid idea.
-
If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
can point your (feh!) web browser to
@file{http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
In any case, after spending all that energy with coming up with a new
and spiffy name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spiffy, so we
renamamed it back again to "Gnus". But in mixed case. "Gnus" vs.
-@sc{gnus}. New vs. old.
+"@sc{gnus}". New vs. old.
Incidentally, the next Gnus generation will be called "September Gnus",
and won't be released until February. Confused? You will be.
* Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
* Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
* Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
+* Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
* Contributors:: Oodles of people.
* New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
* Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
@sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
please let me know (@kbd{M-x gnus-bug}).
-Problems specific to GNU XEmacs can be reported to popineau@@ese-metz.fr
-(Fabrice Popineau). I will just forward any such questions to him,
-anyway, so you might have to wait longer if you mail XEmacs questions to
-me.
-
@node Conformity
@section Conformity
No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
-to man. Except, of course, where we disagree with the standards and/or
-conventions.
+to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
+with, of course.
@table @strong
@item RFC 822
-There are no known breaches to this standard.
+There are no known breaches of this standard.
@item RFC 1036
-There are no known breaches to this standard, either.
+There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
@item Usenet Seal of Approval
Gnus hasn't been formally through the Seal process, but I have read
-through the Seal text, and I think that Gnus would pass.
+through the Seal text and I think Gnus would pass.
@item Son-of-RFC 1036
We do have some breaches to this one.
those for posting articles. I would not have known that if it wasn't
for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
@item References
-Gnus does line breaking on this header. I infer from RFC1036 that being
-conservative in what you output is not creating 5000-character lines, so
-it seems like a good idea to me. However, this standard-to-be says that
-whitespace in the @code{References} header is to be preserved, so... It
-doesn't matter one way or the other to Gnus, so if somebody tells me
-what The Way is, I'll change it. Or not.
+Gnus breaks lines if this header is long. I infer from RFC1036 that
+being conservative in what you output is not creating 5000-character
+lines, so it seems like a good idea to me. However, this standard-to-be
+says that whitespace in the @code{References} header is to be preserved,
+so... It doesn't matter one way or the other to Gnus, so if somebody
+tells me what The Way is, I'll change it. Or not.
@end table
@end table
don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us know.
+@node Emacsen
+@section Emacsen
+@cindex Emacsen
+@cindex XEmacs
+@cindex Mule
+@cindex Emacs
+
+Gnus should work on :
+
+@itemize @bullet
+
+@item
+Emacs 19.26 and up.
+
+@item
+XEmacs 19.12 and up.
+
+@item
+Mule versions based on Emacs 19.26 and up.
+
+@end itemize
+
+Gnus will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than that. Not
+reliably, at least.
+
+There are some vague differences in what Gnus does, though:
+
+@itemize @bullet
+
+@item
+The mouse-face on Gnus lines under Emacs and Mule is delimited to
+certain parts of the lines while they cover the entire line under
+XEmacs.
+
+@item
+The same with current-article marking---XEmacs puts an underline under
+the entire summary line while Emacs and Mule are nicer and kinder.
+
+@item
+XEmacs features more graphics---a logo and a toolbar.
+
+@item
+Citation highlighting us better under Emacs and Mule than under XEmacs.
+
+@item
+Emacs 19.26-19.28 have tangible hidden headers, which can be a bit
+confusing.
+
+@end itemize
+
+
@node Contributors
@section Contributors
@cindex contributors
endurance, what with my "oh, that's a neat idea <type type>, yup, I'll
release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't work at all <type
type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship off> no, wait, that
-absolutely does not work" policy for releases. Microsoft - bah. I'm
-@emph{much} worse.
+absolutely does not work" policy for releases. Micro$oft---bah.
+Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that "worser"? "much worser"?
+"worsest"?)
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
wrong show.
by Per Abrahamsen.
@item
Innumerable bug fixes were written by Sudish Joseph.
+@item
+@code{gnus-topic} was written by Ilja Weis.
@item
The refcard was written by Vladimir Alexiev.
@item
I stole some pieces from the XGnus distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
@item
-nnfolder has been much enhanced by Scott Byer.
+@code{nnfolder} has been much enhanced by Scott Byer.
@item
The orphan scoring was written by Peter Mutsaers.
@item
GNU XEmacs support has been added by Fabrice Popineau.
@item
-Various bits and pieces, especially dealing with .newsrc files, was
+Various bits and pieces, especially dealing with .newsrc files, were
suggested and added by Hallvard B Furuseth.
@item
-Brian Edmonds has written @code{gnus-bbdb}, as well as other bits and
-pieces.
+Brian Edmonds has written @code{gnus-bbdb}.
@item
Ricardo Nassif did the proof-reading.
@item
Kevin Davidson came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
@item
-Stainless Steel Rat, Ulrik Dickow, Jack Vinson, Daniel Quinlan, Ilja
-Weis, Frank D. Cringle, Geoffrey T. Dairiki and Andrew Eskilsson have
+Peter Arius, Stainless Steel Rat, Ulrik Dickow, Jack Vinson, Daniel
+Quinlan, Frank D. Cringle, Geoffrey T. Dairiki and Andrew Eskilsson have
all contributed code and suggestions.
@end itemize
@item
You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Reading Mail}).
All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
-(@code{Expiring Old Mail Articles}).
+(@pxref{Expiring Old Mail Articles}).
@item
Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
-their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads in one thread) or it
+their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
(@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
them as well.
@item
-Gnus can do partial group updates - you do not have to retrieve the
+Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
(@pxref{The Active File}).
(@pxref{Group Levels}).
@item
-You can score articles according to any number of criteria (@pxref{Score
-Files}). You can even get Gnus to score articles for you
-(@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
+You can score articles according to any number of criteria
+(@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
+articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
@item
Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
@item
-Gnus can fetch FAQs to and descriptions of groups (@pxref{Group
-Information}).
+Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
@item
Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
Articles}).
+@item
+URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
+Buttons}).
+
@item
All Gnus buffers can be customized in a difficult fashion
(@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
@itemize @bullet
@item
-Native @sc{mime} support is something that should be done. I was hoping
-I could steal code from @code{Mew}, the @sc{mime} mail reader for Emacs,
-but I'm not quite sure what the status of that project is. Gnus might
-support @sc{mime} quite soon, and it might not.
-
+Native @sc{mime} support is something that should be done.
@item
@code{trn}-like trees.
@item
NoCeM support.
@item
Frame configuration.
-@item
-Re-sending bounced mail and rejected articles.
@item
Floating point group levels and group bubbling.
-@item
-@file{/etc/nntpserver} usage.
@item
Automatic re-scan of incoming mail.
@item
@item
Gather thread by filling in missing Message-IDs.
@item
-Slave Gnusii to enable several Gnusii to run at once.
-@item
PGP support.
@item
Allow posting through mail-to-news gateways.
@item
-Allow renaming mail groups in a simple fashion.
-@item
Speed up massive group massacres.
@item
@code{jka-compr} isn't fully supported.
@item
Really do unbinhexing.
@item
-Fetching by Message-ID should work in mail groups.
-@item
Listing of all active groups.
@item
XEmacs toolbar.
@item
Do the X-Receipt-To thing.
@item
-Hierarchal group buffers.
-@item
Don't kill summary buffers upon exit from the groups.
@item
Allow adaption on secondary marks.
And much, much, much more. There is more to come than has already been
implemented. (But that's always true, isn't it?)
-You can probably sneak a look at the actual up-to-the-second todo list
-by snooping @code{<URL:http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/sgnus/todo>}.
+@code{<URL:http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/sgnus/todo>} is where the actual
+up-to-the-second todo list is located, so if you're really curious, you
+could point your Web browser over that-a-way.
@node Terminology
@chapter Terminology
@table @dfn
@item news
@cindex news
-This is what you are supposed to use this thing for - reading news.
+This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
are reading.
@item backend
Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
-backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak - this
+backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
is all done by the backends.
@item native
Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
@kindex M-x gnus
If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
-and reading news is extremely easy - you just type @kbd{M-x gnus}.
+and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus}.
If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
variables.
* Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
* The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
* The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
+* Slave Gnusii:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
+* Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
* New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
-* Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files - @file{.newsrc}.
+* Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
* Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
* The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
* Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
certainly be much faster.
+@vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
+@cindex NNTPSERVER
+@cindex @sc{nntp} server
If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
-@code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that isn't set either, it
-will try to use the machine that is running Emacs as an @sc{nntp}
-server.
+@code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
+Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file} (default
+@file{/etc/nntpserver}) has any opinions in the matter. It that fails
+as well, Gnus will will try to use the machine that is running Emacs as
+an @sc{nntp} server. That's a longshot, though.
@vindex gnus-nntp-server
If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
find it difficult to actually do anything in the group buffer. But,
hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
+@findex gnus-no-server
+If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
+your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
+@code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
+if you're in a hurry as well.
+
+
+@node Slave Gnusii
+@section Slave Gnusii
+@cindex slave
+
+You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
+same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (eg., if you
+are using the two different Gnusii to read from two different servers),
+that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
+
+The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusii that use the same
+@code{.newsrc} file.
+
+To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
+Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
+@dfn{servants}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
+taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
+conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
+me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
+Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
+
+Anyways, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
+however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusii should be started with
+@kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
+files, but some slave files that contains information only on what
+groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus starts,
+it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
+information from all of them. (The slave files will be read in the
+sequence they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
+
+Information from the slave files has, of course, presedence over the
+information in the normal (i. e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
+
+
+@node Fetching a Group
+@section Fetching a Group
+
+@findex gnus-fetch-group
+It it sometime convenient to be able to just say "I want to read this
+group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not". This is
+perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
+command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any
+case. It takes the group name as a paramenter.
+
+
@node New Groups
@section New Groups
@cindex new groups
the the new group matches the first, it will be unconditionally
subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
+@vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
+Yet another variable that meddles here is
+@code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
+@code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluos, but I
+thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
+meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
+more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
+that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
+@code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
+don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
+
@vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
you could set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
@code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
-@kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
+@kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
+is @code{t} by default.
Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
@code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
-Unfortunately, not all servers support this function.
+Unfortunately, not all servers support this function.
This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
file being whatever that one is with a @samp{.eld} appended.
@vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
-@code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving the @file{.newsrc}
-file.
+@vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
+@vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
+@code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
+files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
+saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
+@code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
+@file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to tern version
+control on or off.
@node Auto Save
@section Auto Save
@vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
-maintain a dribble buffer.
+maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
+
+@vindex gnus-dribble-directory
+Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
+this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
+into the same directory as the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
+normally the user's home directory.)
@node The Active File
@section The Active File
@vindex gnus-read-active-file
The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
-reading the active file.
+reading the active file. This variable is @code{t} by default.
Gnus will try to make do by just getting information on the groups
that you actually subscribe to.
If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will as for group info in total
lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
-NNTP server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and read all
-the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
+@sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
+read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
-@samp{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
+@samp{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should kill all
groups that you aren't interested in.
@item gnus-load-hook
@vindex gnus-load-hook
A hook that is run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
-normally be run just once in a single Emacs session, no matter how many
+normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
times you start Gnus.
@item gnus-startup-hook
* Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
* Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
* Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
-* Group Subscribing:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
+* Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
* Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
* Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
* Foreign Groups:: How to create foreign groups.
* Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
* Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what if has to offer.
* Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
+* Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
* Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
@end menu
lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
+(All these format variables can also be random elisp forms. In that
+case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.)
+
+(All these format variables can also be random elisp forms. In that
+case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.)
+
In addition to the normal "padding" specs that @code{format} supports
(eg. @samp{%7d}), specifications like @samp{%7,12s} are allowed. A spec
of this type means that the field will be at least 7 characters long,
@samp{"%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n"}.
There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
-the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required - not
+the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
text properties.
@cindex *
All the "number-of" specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*}) if
-no info is available - for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
+no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
group, or a bogus (or semi-bogus) native group.
@vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
@vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
-the commands that say they move to the next unread group.
+the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
+is @code{t}.
@node Selecting a Group
@section Selecting a Group
@cindex group selection
@table @kbd
+
@item SPACE
@kindex SPACE (Group)
@findex gnus-group-read-group
will fetch @var{N} number of articles. If @var{N} is positive, fetch
the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is negative, fetch the
@var{abs(N)} oldest articles.
+
@item RET
@kindex RET (Group)
@findex gnus-group-select-group
Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
(@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
-@code{gnus-group-read-group} - the only difference is that this command
+@code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
entry.
+
+@item M-RET
+@kindex M-RET (Group)
+@findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
+This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
+minimum amount off fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
+scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
+expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
+enter some humongous groups.
+
@item c
@kindex c (Group)
@findex gnus-group-catchup-current
Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
(@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
+
@item C
@kindex C (Group)
@findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
@vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
-to be a big group. If the group has more unread articles than this,
-Gnus will query the user before entering the group. The user can then
-specify how many articles should be fetched from the server. If the
-user specifies a negative number (@samp{-n}), the @samp{n} oldest
-articles will be fetched. If it is positive, the @samp{n} articles that
-have arrived most recently will be fetched.
+to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
+unread articles than this, Gnus will query the user before entering the
+group. The user can then specify how many articles should be fetched
+from the server. If the user specifies a negative number (@samp{-n}),
+the @samp{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it is positive, the
+@samp{n} articles that have arrived most recently will be fetched.
@vindex gnus-select-group-hook
@vindex gnus-auto-select-first
functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
tickles you fancy.
-@node Group Subscribing
-@section Group Subscribing
+@node Subscription Commands
+@section Subscription Commands
@cindex subscribing
@table @kbd
Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
@end table
+Also @xref{Group Levels}.
+
@node Group Levels
@section Group Levels
@cindex group level
@vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
@vindex gnus-level-subscribed
Gnus considers groups on between levels 1 and
-@code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) to be subscribed,
+@code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
@code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
-@code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) to be unsubscribed,
-@code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead) and
-@code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed, completely dead. Gnus treats
-subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the same, but zombie and
-killed groups have no information on what articles you have read, etc,
-stored. This distinction between dead and living groups isn't done
-because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for reasons of
-efficiency.
+@code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
+unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
+(default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (default 9),
+completely dead. Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly
+the same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what
+articles you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and
+living groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely
+for reasons of efficiency.
It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
low levels (eg. 1 or 2).
@vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
@vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
-and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed}, which are the levels that new
-groups will be put on if they are (un)subscribed. These two variables
-should, of course, be inside the relevant legal ranges.
+(default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
+which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
+(un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
+relevant legal ranges.
@vindex gnus-keep-same-level
If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
@section Marking Groups
@cindex marking groups
-If you want to perform some action on several groups, and they appear
+If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
bidding on those groups.
However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
-perform an action on several groups. You simply mark the groups first,
-and then execute the command.
+perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
+with the process mark and then execute the command.
@table @kbd
+
@item #
@kindex # (Group)
-@item M m
+@itemx M m
@kindex M m (Group)
@findex gnus-group-mark-group
Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
+
@item M-#
@kindex M-# (Group)
-@item < u
+@itemx < u
@kindex M u (Group)
@findex gnus-group-unmark-group
Remove the mark from the current group
(@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
+
@item M w
@kindex M w (Group)
@findex gnus-group-mark-region
Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
@end table
+Also @xref{Process/Prefix}.
+
+
@node Foreign Groups
@section Foreign Groups
@cindex foreign groups
name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
-One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server} - so
+One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
@samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group, in
all circumstances, @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the
-nntp backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
+@code{nntp} backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
Here are some commands for making and editing general foreign groups,
and some commands to ease the creation of some special-purpose groups:
for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @xref{Browse Foreign Server}.
+@item G r
+@kindex G m (Group)
+@findex gnus-group-rename-group
+Rename the current group to something else
+(@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is legal only on some groups --
+mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow on some
+backends.
+
@item G e
@kindex G e (Group)
@findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
name and a file type. Currently supported types are @code{babyl},
@code{mbox} and @code{digest}.
+@item G DEL
+@kindex G DEL (Group)
+@findex gnus-group-delete-group
+This function will delete the current group
+(@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
+actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
+group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
+sure of what you are doing.
+
@item G V
@kindex G V (Group)
@findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
If the @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
-groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. It is @code{nil} by default,
-which means that you won't be told whether there are new articles in
-these groups. How many unread articles there are will be determined
-when, or if, you decide to enter them. You can also activate any group
-with @kbd{M-g} to see how many unread articles there are.
+groups from different @sc{nntp} servers.
@node nntp
@subsection nntp
@vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
@cindex @sc{mode reader}
@cindex authinfo
+@cindex authentification
+@cindex nntp authentification
@findex nntp-send-authinfo
@findex nntp-send-mode-reader
@code{nntp-server-opened-hook} is run after a connection has been made.
that it can without bound. If it is @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be
made.
+@item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
+@vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
+If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
+server closes connection.
+
+
@end table
@node nnspool
@subsection nnspool
-@cindex nnspool
+@cindex @code{nnspool}
@cindex news spool
Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
@item nnspool-spool-directory
@vindex nnspool-spool-directory
-Where nnspool looks for the articles. This is normally
+Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
@file{/usr/spool/news/}.
@item nnspool-nov-directory
@vindex nnspool-nov-directory
-Where nnspool will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
+Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
@file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
@item nnspool-lib-dir
@node nnvirtual
@subsection nnvirtual
-@cindex nnvirtual
+@cindex @code{nnvirtual}
@cindex virtual groups
An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
-(And vice versa - marks from the component groups will also be shown in
+(And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
the virtual group.)
-Here's an example nnvirtual method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
+Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
@lisp
"^nntp+some.server.jp:soc.motss$\\|^nntp+some.server.no:soc.motss$"
@end example
-This should work kinda smoothly - all articles from both groups should
+This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
(@pxref{Selecting a Group}.
-One limitation, however - all groups that are included in a virtual
+One limitation, however---all groups that are included in a virtual
group has to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
-zombie groups can't be component groups for nnvirtual groups.
+zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
@node nnkiboze
@subsection nnkiboze
-@cindex nnkiboze
+@cindex @code{nnkiboze}
@cindex kibozing
-@dfn{Kibozing} is defined by OED as "grepping through (parts of) the
-news feed". nnkiboze is a backend that will do this for you. Oh joy!
-Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt with useless
+@dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as "grepping through (parts of)
+the news feed". @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for you. Oh
+joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt with useless
requests! Oh happiness!
-The address field of the nnkiboze method is, as with nnvirtual, a regexp
-to match groups to be "included" in the nnkiboze group. There most
-similarities between nnkiboze and nnvirtual ends.
+The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp
+to match groups to be "included" in the @code{nnkiboze} group. There most
+similarities between @code{nnkiboze} and @code{nnvirtual} ends.
-In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an nnkiboze group
+In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
must have a score file to say what articles that are to be included in
-the group (@pxref{Score Files}).
+the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
@kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
@findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
-nnkiboze groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
+@code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
all the articles in all the components groups and run them through the
scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
-that are to be part of the nnkiboze groups.
+that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
@sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
Stranger things have happened.
-nnkiboze component groups do not have to be alive - they can be dead,
+@code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
@vindex nnkiboze-directory
-The generation of an nnkiboze group means writing two files in
+The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
@code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
on what groups that have been searched through to find component
articles.
-Articles that are marked as read in the nnkiboze group will have their
+Articles that are marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have their
@sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
@node nndir
@subsection nndir
-@cindex nndir
+@cindex @code{nndir}
@cindex directory groups
If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp}, that most
wonderful of all wonderful Emacs packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I
-didn't think much about it - a backend to read directories. Big deal.
+didn't think much about it---a backend to read directories. Big deal.
@code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
enter @file{"/ftp@@sina.tcamc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/"} as the the
@code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
-@code{nndir} is a "read-only" backend - you can't delete or expire
+@code{nndir} is a "read-only" backend---you can't delete or expire
articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
@node nneething
@subsection nneething
-@cindex nneething
+@cindex @code{nneething}
From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
-There are two overall modes to this action - ephemeral or solid. When
+There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
@node nndoc
@subsection nndoc
-@cindex nndoc
+@cindex @code{nndoc}
@cindex documentation group
@cindex help group
-nndoc is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file as a
+@code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file as a
newsgroup. Currently supported file types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}
and @code{digest}.
-nndoc will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
-it - it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
+@code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
+it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
group. And that's it.
Virtual server variables:
@cindex reading mail
@cindex mail
-Reading mail with a newsreader - isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
+Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
course.
Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
@code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to @code{t}.
@vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
-If you use @code{procmail} to split things directory into an nnmh
+If you use @code{procmail} to split things directory into an @code{nnmh}
directory (which you shouldn't do), you should set
@code{nnmail-keep-last-article} to non-@code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
ever expiring the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is quite,
expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
easier for procmail users.
+@vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
By the way, that line up there about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
articles is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
-caution.
+caution. Even more dangerous is the
+@code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
+this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
+which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
+will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
+crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
+wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
+@emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
+with! So there!
-Note that at present, Gnus will not actually delete any expirable
-articles automatically. You have to enter one of the expiry functions
-(eg. `C-c M-c-x' in the group buffer) to actually run articles through
-the expiry process. Or you can add a call to the expiry function in the
-group exit hook. Gnus will probably do all this automatically in the
-future.
@node Not Reading Mail
@subsubsection Not Reading Mail
@node nnmbox
@subsubsection nnmbox
-@cindex nnmbox
+@cindex @code{nnmbox}
@cindex unix mail box
@vindex nnmbox-active-file
@node nnbabyl
@subsubsection nnbabyl
-@cindex nnbabyl
+@cindex @code{nnbabyl}
@cindex rmail mbox
@vindex nnbabyl-active-file
@node nnml
@subsubsection nnml
-@cindex nnml
+@cindex @code{nnml}
@cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
@node nnmh
@subsubsection nnmh
-@cindex nnmh
+@cindex @code{nnmh}
@cindex mh-e mail spool
@code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
sure that the articles in the folder is actually what Gnus think they
are. It will check date stamps, and stat everything in sight, so
setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
-use anything by Gnus to read the nnmh articles, you do not have to set
+use anything by Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have to set
this variable to @code{t}.
@end table
@node nnfolder
@subsubsection nnfolder
-@cindex nnfolder
+@cindex @code{nnfolder}
@cindex mbox folders
@code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
@end table
+
@node Group Parameters
@section Group Parameters
@cindex group parameters
In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
-At present, there's not much you can put in the group parameters list:
+The group parameters store information local to a particular group:
@table @code
@item to-address
Let's say there's a group on the server that is called @samp{fa.4ad-l}.
This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten the articles from a
mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this group is therefore
-impossible - you have to send mail to the mailing list address instead.
+impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing list address instead.
+Also @xref{Mail & Post}.
@item to-group
@cindex to-group
-IF the group parameter list contains an element like @code{(to-group
-. "some.group.name")}, all posts will be sent to that groups.
+If the group parameter list contains an element like @code{(to-group
+. "some.group.name")}, all posts will be sent to that group.
+
+@item topic
+@cindex topic
+If the group parameter list contains an element like @code{(topic
+. "some-topic")}, the group will become a member of the topic in
+question (@pxref{Group Topics}).
@item auto-expire
@cindex auto-expire
If this symbol is present, all read articles will be put through the
expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
caution.
+
+@item @var{(variable form)}
+You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
+are entering. Say you want to turn threading off in
+@samp{news.answers}. You'd then put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in
+the group parameters of that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be
+made into a local variable in the summary buffer you enter, and the form
+@code{nil} will be @code{eval}ed there.
+
+This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
+If you want to hear a beep when you enter the group
+@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, you could put something like
+@code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that group.
+@code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the @code{(ding)}
+form, but who cares?
+
@end table
-If you want to change the group parameters (or anything else of the
-group info) you can use the @kbd{G E} to edit enter a buffer where you
-can edit the group info.
+If you want to change the group info you can use the @kbd{G E} command
+to enter a buffer where you can edit it.
You usually don't want to edit the entire group info, so you'd be better
off using the @kbd{G p} command to just edit the group parameters.
These commands all list various slices of the groups that are available.
@table @kbd
+
@item l
@itemx A s
@kindex A s (Group)
(@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
only lists groups of level five or lower (i.e., just subscribed groups).
+
@item L
@itemx A u
@kindex A u (Group)
this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
unsubscribed groups).
+
@item A k
@kindex A k (Group)
@findex gnus-group-list-killed
-List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}).
+List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
+prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
+currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
+from the server.
+
@item A z
@kindex A z (Group)
@findex gnus-group-list-zombies
List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
+
@item A m
@kindex A m (Group)
@findex gnus-group-list-matching
List all subscribed groups with unread articles that match a regexp
(@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
+
@item A M
@kindex A M (Group)
@findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
+
+@item A A
+@kindex A A (Group)
+@findex gnus-group-list-active
+List absolutely all groups that are in the active file(s) of the
+server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
+might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
+to do a @kbd{A m} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
+thing to match on.
+
@end table
@node Group Maintenance
@findex gnus-group-expire-articles
Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
+
@item C-c M-C-x
@kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
@findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
(@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
+
@item C-c C-s
@kindex C-c C-s (Group)
@findex gnus-group-sort-groups
-@findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
-@findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
-@findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
@vindex gnus-group-sort-function
Sort the groups according to the function given by the
@code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
-(@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}). Available sorting functions include
-@code{gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet} (the default),
-@code{gnus-group-sort-by-unread} and @code{gnus-group-sort-by-level}.
+(@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}). Available sorting functions include:
+
+@table @code
+
+@item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
+@findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
+Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
+
+@item gnus-group-sort-by-level
+@findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
+Sort by group level.
+
+@item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
+@findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
+Sort by number of unread articles.
+
+@item gnus-group-sort-by-method
+@findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
+Sort by alphabetically on the select method.
+
+@end table
+
+@code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
+functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
+the last one.
@end table
@node Browse Foreign Server
plastic chair.
@end quotation
+
+@node Group Topics
+@section Group Topics
+@cindex topics
+
+If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
+them according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over here, your sex
+groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?) you put in
+some misc section that you never bother with anyway.
+
+To get this @emph{fab} functionality, you set
+@code{gnus-group-prepare-function} to @code{gnus-group-prepare-topics}.
+Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
+dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
+press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
+@samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
+bothered?
+
+@vindex gnus-group-topics
+To get an even more exciting division, you have to fiddle with
+@code{gnus-group-topics}. That is an alist where each entry looks like
+this:
+
+@lisp
+(TOPIC REGEXP SHOW)
+@end lisp
+
+As you've already guessed (only geniï read manuals anyway), all
+groups that match @var{regexp} gets put into a section called
+@var{topic}. If @var{show} is non-@code{nil}, it overrides
+@code{gnus-group-topic-topics-only}. In specific, if @var{show} is
+@code{t}, all groups with this topic are always shown, and if it is a
+number, these groups are never shown.
+
+@vindex gnus-group-topic-topics-only
+Whoo, this is complicated. If @code{gnus-group-topic-topics-only} is
+@code{nil}, all groups and topics will be listed, as you would expect.
+If this variable is non-@code{nil}, only the topics will be listed, and
+the groups will not be listed. This makes the group buffer much shorter,
+I'm sure you'll agree. This is all modified on a topic-by-topic basis
+by the @var{show} parameter. It makes perfect sense, really.
+
+@vindex gnus-group-topic-face
+Topics are shown with @code{gnus-group-topic-face}.
+
+@vindex gnus-topic-unique
+If @code{gnus-topic-unique} is non-@code{nil}, each group will be member
+of (tops) one topic each. If this is @code{nil}, each group might end
+up being a member of several topics.
+
+You can also put a @code{topic} in the group parameters (@pxref{Group
+Parameters}).
+
+Now, if you select a topic, if will fold/unfold that topic, which is
+really neat, I think.
+
+Here's an example @code{gnus-group-topics}:
+
+@lisp
+(("Emacs - the Spice of Life" "^gnu.emacs\\|comp.emacs" t)
+ ("Alternativeness" "^alt" 0)
+ ("Hard Stuff" "^comp" nil)
+ ("The Rest" "." nil))
+@end lisp
+
+If you want to add a group to a topic, you can use the @kbd{G t}
+(@code{gnus-group-add-to-topic}) command. It understands the
+process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
+
+If you want to add a group to a topic, you can use the @kbd{G t}
+(@code{gnus-group-add-to-topic}) command. It understands the
+process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
+
+
@node Misc Group Stuff
@section Misc Group Stuff
@table @kbd
+
@item g
@kindex g (Group)
@findex gnus-group-get-new-news
-Check server for new articles. If the numeric prefix is used, this
-command will check only groups of level ARG and lower
-(@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}).
+Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
+this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
+(@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
+command will force a total rereading of the active file(s) from the
+backend(s).
+
@item M-g
@kindex M-g (Group)
@findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
(@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
@code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
-remote machine. ange-ftp will be used for fetching the file.
+remote machine. @code{ange-ftp} will be used for fetching the file.
@item R
@kindex R (Group)
@findex gnus-group-restart
* Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
* Canceling and Superseding:: "Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that."
* Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
+* Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
* Threading:: How threads are made.
* Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
* Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
+* Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
* Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
* Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
* Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
* Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
-* Various Article Stuff:: Various stuff dealing with articles.
+* Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
* Summary Sorting:: You can sort the summary buffer four ways.
* Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
-* Score Files:: Maintaining a score file.
* Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
* Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
@end menu
+
@node Summary Buffer Format
@section Summary Buffer Format
@cindex summary buffer format
variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
@code{From} header. Two pre-defined function exist:
@code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
-fast, and too simplistic solution, and
+fast, and too simplistic solution; and
@code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
slower.
@vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
-with those specs that require it.
+with those specs that require it. The default is @samp{""}.
@node Summary Buffer Lines
@subsection Summary Buffer Lines
@item D
@code{Date}.
@item M
-@code{Message-Id}.
+@code{Message-ID}.
@item r
@code{References}.
@item t
@table @samp
@item G
Group name.
+@item p
+Unprefixed group name.
@item A
Current article number.
@item V
Used-defined spec.
@item s
Name of the current score file.
+@item d
+Number of dormant articles.
+@item t
+Number of ticked articles.
+@item r
+Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
+@item E
+Number of articles expunged by the score files.
@end table
variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the next
group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
-next group without asking for confirmation. Also @xref{Group Levels}.
+next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
+@code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
+the last article in the group. Also @xref{Group Levels}.
If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
@cindex article scrolling
@table @kbd
+
@item SPACE
@kindex SPACE (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-next-page
Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
+
@item DEL
@kindex DEL (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-prev-page
@findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
Scroll the current article one line forward
(@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
+
@item A <
@itemx <
@kindex < (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
Scroll to the beginning of the article
(@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
+
@item A >
@itemx >
@kindex > (Summary)
@kindex A > (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
+
+@item A s
+@kindex A s (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
+Perform an isearch in the article buffer
+(@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
+
@end table
@node Reply Followup and Post
* Mail:: Mailing & replying.
* Post:: Posting and following up.
* Mail & Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
+* Posting Styles:: An easier way to configure some key elements.
+* Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
+* Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
@end menu
@node Mail
@findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
Send a mail to some other person
(@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
+@item S D b
+@kindex S D b (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
+If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
+reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
+resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
+will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
+sending the mail off again. The headers that match the regexp
+@code{gnus-bounced-headers-junk} (default @samp{^Received:}) are
+automatically deleted first. If you give a prefix to this command, and
+the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
+that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
+very well fail, though.
@item S O m
@kindex S O m (Summary)
@findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
@item gnus-mail-hook
+@vindex gnus-mail-hook
Hook called as the last thing after setting up a mail buffer.
+@item gnus-required-mail-headers
+@vindex gnus-required-mail-headers
+Gnus will generate headers in all outgoing mail instead of letting
+@code{sendmail} do it for us. This makes it possible to do more neat
+stuff, like putting mail without sending it, do hairy @code{Fcc}
+handling, and much more. This variable controls what headers Gnus will
+generate, and is of the exact same form as @code{gnus-required-headers},
+which does the same for news articles (@pxref{Post}).
+
+The @code{Newsgroups} header is illegal in this list, while @code{To} is
+required, and @code{X-Mailer} can be added if you so should want.
+
@end table
+@kindex C-c C-c (Mail)
+@kindex C-c C-p (Mail)
+@findex gnus-put-message
+You normally send a mail message by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. However,
+you may wish to just put the mail message you have just written in your
+own local mail group instead of sending it. Sounds quite unlikely, but
+I found that useful, so you can now also press @kbd{C-c C-p} to
+@dfn{put} the article in the current mail group, or, if there is no such
+thing, you will be prompted for a mail group, and then the article will
+be put there. This means that the article is @dfn{not} mailed.
+
There are three "methods" for handling all mail. The default is
@code{sendmail}. Some people like what @code{mh} does better, and some
people prefer @code{vm}.
@end table
In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
-should be a symbol who's name is the name of the header, and the cdr can
-either a string to be entered verbatim as the value of this header, or
-it can be a function to be called. This function should return a string
-to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert @samp{Mime-Version:
-1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")} into the list. If
-you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter something like
-@code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function @code{yow} will then
-be called without any arguments.
+should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
+the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
+this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
+return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
+@samp{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
+into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
+something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
+@code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
+
+The list contains a cons where the car of the cons is @code{optional},
+the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is non-@code{nil}.
Other variables for customizing outgoing articles:
post buffer has been initialized, and can be used for inserting a
signature. Nice if you use different signatures in different groups.
-@item gnus-post-prepapare-hook
-@vindex gnus-post-prepapare-hook
+@item gnus-post-prepare-hook
+@vindex gnus-post-prepare-hook
This hook is called after a post buffer has been prepared. If you want
to insert a signature at this point, you could put
@code{gnus-inews-insert-signature} into this hook.
In article <zngay8jrql@@eyesore.no> Lars Mars <lars@@eyesore.no> writes:
@end example
-Having the @code{Message-Id} in this line is probably overkill, so I
+Having the @code{Message-ID} in this line is probably overkill, so I
would suggest this hook instead:
@lisp
@item gnus-prepare-article-hook
@vindex gnus-prepare-article-hook
-This hook is called before the headers have been prepared. By default
-it inserts the signature specified by @code{gnus-signature-file}.
+This hook is called before the headers have been prepared.
@item gnus-inews-article-function
@vindex gnus-inews-article-function
@table @code
@item subject-cmsg
Check the subject for commands.
+@item sender
+Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
@item multiple-headers
Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
@item sendsys
@item new-text
Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
@item signature
-Check the length of the signature
+Check the length of the signature.
+@item approved
+Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
+something only moderators should include.
@end table
@end table
signature will be appended to all outgoing post. Most people find it
more convenient to use @code{mail-signature}, which (sort of) does the
same, but inserts the signature into the buffer before you start editing
-the post (or mail). So - if you have both of these variables set, you
+the post (or mail). So---if you have both of these variables set, you
will get two signatures. Note that @code{mail-signature} does not work
the same way as @code{gnus-signature-file}, which is a bit confusing.
If @code{mail-signature} is @code{t}, it will insert
@item mail-yank-ignored-headers
@vindex mail-yank-ignored-headers
When you yank a message, you do not want to quote any headers, so
-@code{(setq mail-yank-ignored-headers ":")}.
+@code{(setq mail-yank-ignored-headers "^")}.
@item user-mail-address
@vindex user-mail-address
@code{gnus-local-domain} are @code{nil}, Gnus will use
@code{user-mail-address} as the address part of the @code{From} header.
+@item gnus-local-domain
+@vindex gnus-local-domain
+@cindex domain
+The local doman name excluding the host name. If your host is called
+@samp{"narfi.ifi.uio.no"}, then this variable should be
+@samp{"ifi.uio.no"}.
+
+@item gnus-local-domain
+@vindex gnus-local-domain
+@cindex domain
+The local doman name excluding the host name. If your host is called
+@samp{"narfi.ifi.uio.no"}, then this variable should be
+@samp{"ifi.uio.no"}.
+
@item gnus-user-from-line
@vindex gnus-user-from-line
-Your full, complete e-mail address. This variable overrides the other
-Gnus variables if it is non-@code{nil}.
+Your full, complete e-mail address with name. This variable overrides
+the other Gnus variables if it is non-@code{nil}.
Here are two example values of this variable: @samp{"larsi@@ifi.uio.no
(Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen)"} and @samp{"Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
-<larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"}. The latter version is recommended, but the name
-has to be quoted if it contains non-alpha-numerical characters -
-@samp{"\"Lars M. Ingebrigtsen\" <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"}.
+<larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"}. The latter version is recommended in news (and is
+probably illegal in mail), but the name has to be quoted if it contains
+non-alpha-numerical characters---@samp{"\"Lars M. Ingebrigtsen\"
+<larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"}.
@item mail-default-headers
@vindex mail-default-headers
copy to the author of the article you are following up. If
non-@code{nil} and not @code{ask}, Gnus will send a mail with a copy of
all follow-ups to the authors of the articles you follow up. It's nice
-in one way - you make sure that the person you are responding to gets
+in one way---you make sure that the person you are responding to gets
your response. Other people loathe this method and will hate you dearly
for it, because it means that they will first get a mail, and then have
to read the same article later when they read the news. It is
This is a string that will be prepended to all mails that are the result
of using the variable described above.
+@item gnus-outgoing-message-group
+@vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
+All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
+all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
+you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
+group names.
+
+If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
+message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
+current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
+of names).
+
+@item gnus-mailing-list-groups
+@findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
+@cindex mailing lists
+
+If your newsserver offer groups that are really mailing lists that are
+gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
+problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
+One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
+(@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
+@code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that match the groups that
+really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
+lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
+still a pain, though.
+
+
@end table
You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
@code{gnus-inews-insert-mime-headers} to @code{gnus-inews-article-hook}.
+@node Posting Styles
+@subsection Posting Styles
+@cindex posting styles
+@cindex styles
+
+All them variables, they make my head swim.
+
+So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
+on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
+and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
+on?
+
+@vindex gnus-posting-styles
+One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
+variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
+came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
+a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
+variable:
+
+@lisp
+((".*" (signature . "Peace and happiness") (organization . "What me?"))
+ ("^comp" (signature . "Death to everybody"))
+ ("comp.emacs.i-love-it" (organization . "Emacs is it")))
+@end lisp
+
+As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
+@dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
+"matches", in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
+over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
+applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
+the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
+@samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
+signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
+
+The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
+string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
+If it's a function symbol, that function will be called with no
+arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
+referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
+any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
+to @dfn{match}.
+
+Each style may contain a random amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
+attribute consists of a @var{(name . value)} pair. The attribute name
+can be one of @code{signature}, @code{organization} or @code{from}.
+The attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be
+used as a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of
+the article.
+
+The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function (the
+return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used) or a
+list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be used).
+
+So here's a new example:
+
+@lisp
+(setq gnus-posting-styles
+ '((".*"
+ (signature . "~/.signature")
+ (from . "user@@foo (user)")
+ ("X-Home-Page" . (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
+ (organization . "People's Front Against MWM"))
+ ("^rec.humor"
+ (signature . my-funny-signature-randomizer))
+ ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
+ (signature . my-quote-randomizer))
+ (posting-from-work-p
+ (signature . "~/.work-signature")
+ (from . "user@@bar.foo (user)")
+ (organization . "Important Work, Inc"))
+ ("^nn.+:"
+ (signature . "~/.mail-signature"))))
+@end lisp
+
+
+
+@node Drafts
+@subsection Drafts
+@cindex drafts
+
+If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
+you have a steak in the oven (or pesto in the food processor, you craazy
+vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save the
+message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some other
+day, and send it when you feel its finished.
+
+@kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
+@kindex C-c C-d (Post)
+@findex gnus-enter-into-draft-group
+@vindex gnus-draft-group-directory
+What you then do is simply push @kbd{C-c C-d}
+(@code{gnus-enter-into-draft-group}). This will put the current
+(unfinished) message in a special draft group (which is implemented as
+an @code{nndir} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
+@samp{nndir:drafts}. The variable @code{gnus-draft-group-directory}
+controls both the name of the group and the location---the leaf element
+in the path will be used as the name of the group.
+
+If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
+to it.
+
+@findex gnus-summary-send-draft
+@kindex S D c S (Summary)
+When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
+draft group and push @kbd{S D c} (@code{gnus-summary-send-draft}) to do
+that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
+
+Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
+Articles}).
+
+@findex gnus-summary-send-all-drafts
+If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
+doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{S D a} command
+(@code{gnus-summary-send-all-drafts}). This command understands the
+process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
+
+
+@node Rejected Articles
+@subsection Rejected Articles
+@cindex rejected articles
+
+Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
+doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
+@emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
+Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
+
+These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
+(Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
+fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
+you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
+articles until some later time when the server feels better.
+
+The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
+(@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
+typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
+
+
@node Canceling and Superseding
@section Canceling Articles
@cindex canceling articles
Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
-canceled - machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
+canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
@vindex gnus-delete-supersedes-headers
You probably want to delete some of the old headers before sending the
-superseding article - @code{Path} and @code{Date} are probably
+superseding article---@code{Path} and @code{Date} are probably
incorrect. Set @code{gnus-delete-supersedes-headers} to a regexp to
match the lines you want removed. The default is
@samp{"^Path:\\|^Date"}.
All the following marks mark articles as read.
@table @samp
-@item D
+@item r
Articles that are marked as read. They have a @samp{r}
(@code{gnus-del-mark}) in the first column. These are articles that the
user has marked as read more or less manually.
-@item d
+@item R
Articles that are actually read are marked with @samp{R}
(@code{gnus-read-mark}).
-@item A
+@item O
Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions are now
@dfn{old} and marked with @samp{O} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
@item K
@item M C
@kindex M C (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-catchup
-Catchup the current group (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
+Mark all unread articles in the group as read
+(@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
@item M C-c
@kindex M C-c (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
-Catchup all articles in the current group (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
+Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
+articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
@item M H
@kindex M H (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
@findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
Mark all articles between point and mark as read
(@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
+@item M V k
+@kindex M V k (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-kill-below
+Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
+numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
@item M c
@itemx M-u
@kindex M c (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
Remove the bookmark from the current article
(@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
-@item M M-r
-@itemx x
-@kindex M M-r (Summary)
-@kindex M-d (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-remove-lines-marked-as-read
-Expunge all deleted articles from the summary buffer
-(@code{gnus-summary-remove-lines-marked-as-read}).
-@item M M-C-r
-@kindex M M-C-r (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-remove-lines-marked-with
-Ask for a mark and then expunge all articles that have been marked with
-that mark (@code{gnus-summary-remove-lines-marked-with}).
-@item M S
-@kindex M S (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-show-all-expunged
-Display all expunged articles (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-expunged}).
-@item M D
-@kindex M D (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-show-all-dormant
-Display all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-dormant}).
-@item M M-D
-@kindex M M-D (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-hide-all-dormant
-Hide all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-dormant}).
-@item M V k
-@kindex M V k (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-kill-below
-Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
-numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
@item M V c
@kindex M V c (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-clear-above
The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
-one line up or down.
+one line up or down. The default is @code{t}.
+
@node Setting Process Marks
@subsection Setting Process Marks
@findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
(@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
+@item M P T
+@kindex M P T (Summary)
+@findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
+Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
+(@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
@item M P s
@kindex M P s (Summary)
@findex gnus-uu-mark-series
@kindex M P a (Summary)
@findex gnus-uu-mark-all
Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
+@item M P b
+@kindex M P b (Summary)
+@findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
+Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
+(@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
+@end table
+
+
+@node Limiting
+@section Limiting
+@cindex limiting
+
+It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
+subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
+commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
+buffer.
+
+@table @kbd
+
+@item / /
+@kindex / / (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
+Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
+(@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
+
+@item / u
+@itemx x
+@kindex / u (Summary)
+@kindex x (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
+Limit the summary buffer to articles that are not marked as read
+(@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
+buffer to articles that are strictly unread. This means that ticked and
+dormant articles will also be excluded.
+
+@item / m
+@kindex / m (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
+Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have not been marked
+with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
+
+@item / n
+@kindex / n (Summary)
+@findex
+Limit the summary buffer to the current article
+(@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
+convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
+
+@item / w
+@kindex / w (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
+Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
+(@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
+the stack.
+
+@item / s
+@itemx /
+@kindex / s (Summary)
+@kindex / (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
+Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a subject that matches a
+regexp (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
+
+@item / v
+@kindex / v (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
+Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
+score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
+
+@item / E
+@itemx M S
+@kindex M S (Summary)
+@kindex / E (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
+Display all expunged articles
+(@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
+
+@item / D
+@kindex / D (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
+Display all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
+
+@item / d
+@kindex / d (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
+Hide all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
+
+@item / c
+@kindex / c (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
+Hide all dormant articles that have no children
+(@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
+
@end table
+
@node Threading
@section Threading
@cindex threading
@cindex article threading
Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put replies to
-articles directly after the articles they reply to - in a hierarchical
+articles directly after the articles they reply to---in a hierarchical
fashion.
@menu
the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
slower and more awkward.
+
@item gnus-fetch-old-headers
@vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
-more old headers - headers to articles that are marked as read. If you
+more old headers---headers to articles that are marked as read. If you
would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
-to @code{some}. In either case, fetching old headers only works if the
-backend you are using carries overview files -- this would normally be
-@code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the
-root of the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus
-can do about that.
+to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
+that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
+fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
+overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
+@code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
+expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
@item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects.
+@vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
+Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
+to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
+@samp{""} and @samp{"(none)"}. To make the situation slightly better,
+you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
+what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process. The
+default is @samp{"^ *$\\|^(none)$"}.
+
@item gnus-summary-make-false-root
@vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
+
@item dummy
Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
article.
+
@item empty
Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
Buffer Format}).)
+
@item none
Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
display them after one another.
+
@item nil
Don't gather loose threads.
@end table
@vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
generated.
+
@item gnus-thread-hide-killed
@vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
will be hidden.
+
@item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
@vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
in a new thread.
+
@item gnus-thread-indent-level
@vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
@cindex thread commands
@table @kbd
+
@item T k
@itemx M-C-k
@kindex T k (Summary)
(@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
articles instead.
+
@item T l
@itemx M-C-l
@kindex T l (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
Lower the score of the current thread
(@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
+
@item T i
@kindex T i (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
Increase the score of the current thread
(@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
+
@item T #
@kindex T # (Summary)
@findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
-Mark the current thread with the process mark
+Set the process mark on the current thread
(@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
+
+@item T M-#
+@kindex T M-# (Summary)
+@findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
+Remove the process mark from the current thread
+(@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
+
@item T T
@kindex T T (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
+
@item T s
@kindex T s (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-show-thread
Expose the thread hidden under the current article, if any
(@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
+
@item T h
@kindex T h (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
Hide the current (sub)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
+
@item T S
@kindex T S (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
+
@item T H
@kindex T H (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
@end table
+@vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
+If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
+threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
+a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
+wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
+have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
+you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If is
+is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
+when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
+the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
+operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
+that have subjects that are fuzzily equal will be included.
+
+
@node Asynchronous Fetching
@section Asynchronous Article Fetching
@cindex asynchronous article fetching
Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
-also become more loaded - both with the extra article requests, and the
+also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
extra connection.
Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really, really slow
and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk. Seriously.
+@vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
+It is likely that you do not want caching on some groups. For instance,
+if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
+sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
+feel that it's neat to use twice as much space. To limit the caching,
+you could set the @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to
+@samp{"^nnml"}, for instance. This variable is @samp{"^nnvirtual"} by
+default, since caching doesn't really work in @code{nnvirtual} groups,
+since @code{nnvirtual} assigns random article numbers to its articles.
+
+
+@node Article Backlog
+@section Article Backlog
+@cindex backlog
+@cindex article backlog
+
+If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
+unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
+by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
+already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
+you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
+re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
+that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
+increase memory usage some.
+
+@vindex gnus-keep-backlog
+If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
+at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
+variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
+@emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will group without
+bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
+that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
+
+This variable is @code{nil} by default.
+
@node Exiting the Summary Buffer
@section Exiting the Summary Buffer
The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
-@code{t}, articles that are cross-referenced to this group and are
-marked as read, will also be marked as read in the other subscribed
-groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is neither
-@code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in both
-subscribed and unsubscribed groups.
+@code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
+this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
+other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
+neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
+both subscribed and unsubscribed groups.
Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
unwanted headers before saving the article.
+@vindex gnus-saved-headers
+If the preceeding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
+@code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
+deleted before saving.
+
@table @kbd
+
@item O o
@itemx o
@kindex O o (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-save-article
Save the current article using the default article saver
(@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
+
@item O m
@kindex O m (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
Save the current article in mail format
(@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
+
@item O r
@kindex O r (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
Save the current article in rmail format
(@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
+
@item O f
@kindex O f (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
Save the current article in plain file format
(@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
+
+@item O b
+@kindex O b (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
+Save the current article body in plain file format
+(@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
+
@item O h
@kindex O h (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
Save the current article in mh folder format
(@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
+
@item O p
@kindex O p (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
-Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is - Pipe
+Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
@end table
+@vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
All these commands use the process/prefix convention
-(@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
+(@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
+functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
+and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
+the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
+default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
+loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be promted
+just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
+have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
+to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
+save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
+files.
+
@vindex gnus-default-article-saver
You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
functions below, or you can create your own.
@table @code
+
@item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
-@vindex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
+@findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
@code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
+
@item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
-@vindex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
+@findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
@code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
+
@item gnus-summary-save-in-file
-@vindex gnus-summary-save-in-file
+@findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
+
+@item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
+@findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
+Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
+@code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
+article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
+
@item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
-@vindex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
+@findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
library.
+
@item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
-@vindex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
+@findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
reader to use this setting.
@end table
All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
-@samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable.
+@samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
+default.
As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
Generates file names that look like @samp{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
@end table
-@vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
-Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
-@code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
-(@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/}) - which means that
-the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
-all the files in the toplevel directory
-(@samp{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
-@samp{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.)
+@vindex gnus-split-methods
+You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking regexp into
+the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. The syntax of this variable is the
+same as @code{nnmail-split-methods}. For instance, if you would like to
+save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
+related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
+like:
+
+@lisp
+(("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
+ ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff"))
+@end lisp
+
+@vindex gnus-split-methods
+You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking regexp into
+the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. The syntax of this variable is the
+same as @code{nnmail-split-methods}. For instance, if you would like to
+save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
+related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
+like:
+
+@lisp
+(("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
+ ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff"))
+@end lisp
+
+@vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
+Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
+@code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
+(@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
+the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
+all the files in the toplevel directory
+(@samp{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
+@samp{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
+on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
+Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
@end lisp
Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
-ephemeral @code{nneething} groups - @kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
+ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
the toplevel directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
@code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
-embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153 - no easy way
+embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
simply dropped them.
Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen are able
to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
-seen one package that does that - @code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
+seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
@item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
@emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
-@node Various Article Stuff
-@section Various Article Stuff
+
+@node Article Treatment
+@section Article Treatment
+
+Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
+object of newsreaders are to actually, like, read what people have
+written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
+writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
+these articles easier.
+
+@menu
+* Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
+* Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
+* Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
+* Article Buttons:: Clcik on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
+* Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
+@end menu
+
+
+@node Article Highlighting
+@subsection Article Highlighting
+@cindex highlight
+
+Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
+you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
+
+@table @kbd
+
+@item W H a
+@kindex W H a (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-highlight
+Highlight the current article (@code{gnus-article-highlight}).
+
+@item W H h
+@kindex W H h (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
+@vindex gnus-header-face-alist
+Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
+highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
+variable, which is a list where each element has the form @var{(regexp
+name content)}. @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
+header, @var{name} is the face used for highling the header name and
+@var{content} is the face for highlighting the header value. The first
+match made will be used.
+
+@item W H c
+@kindex W H c (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
+Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
+
+Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
+
+@table @code
+@vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
+@item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
+If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
+default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
+
+@item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
+@vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
+Regexp mathcing the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
+
+@item gnus-cite-max-prefix
+@vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
+Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
+
+@item gnus-supercite-regexp
+@vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
+Regexp matching normal SuperCite attribution lines.
+
+@item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
+@vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
+Regexp matching mangled SuperCite attribution lines.
+
+@item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
+@vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
+Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
+that it's a citation.
+
+@item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
+@vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
+Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
+
+@item gnus-cite-addtribution-suffix
+@vindex gnus-cite-addtribution-suffix
+Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
+
+@item gnus-cite-attribution-face
+@vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
+Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
+cited text belonging to the attribution.
+
+@end table
+
+
+@item W H s
+@kindex W H s (Summary)
+@vindex gnus-signature-separator
+@findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
+Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
+Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} in an article will be
+considered a signature.
+
+@end table
+
+
+@node Article Hiding
+@subsection Article Hiding
+@cindex article hiding
+
+Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
+to much gruft in most articles.
+
+@table @kbd
+
+@item W W a
+@kindex W W a (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-hide
+Do maximum hiding on the summary buffer (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}).
+
+@item W W h
+@kindex W W h (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-hide-headers
+Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
+Headers}.
+
+@item W W s
+@kindex W W s (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-hide-signature
+Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}).
+
+@item W W p
+@kindex W W p (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
+Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}).
+
+@item W W c
+@kindex W W c (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-hide-citation
+Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Two variables for
+customizing the hiding:
+
+@table @code
+
+@item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
+@vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
+If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
+50), hide the cited text.
+
+@item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
+@vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
+The cited text must be have at least this length (default 10) before it
+is hidden.
+
+@end table
+
+Also see @xref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
+citation customization.
+
+@end table
+
+
+@node Article Washing
+@subsection Article Washing
+@cindex washing
+@cindex article washing
+
+We call this "article washing" for a really good reason. Namely, the
+@kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
+
+@dfn{Washing} is defined by us as "changing something from something to
+something else", but normally results in something looking better.
+Cleaner, perhaps.
@table @kbd
+
@item W l
@kindex W l (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
Remove page breaks from the current article
(@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}).
-@item A s
-@kindex A s (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
-Perform an isearch in the article buffer
-(@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
+
@item W r
@kindex W r (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
(@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
+
@item A g
@kindex A g (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-show-article
-(Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
-given a prefix, don't actually refetch any articles, just jump to the
-current article and configure the windows to display the current
-article.
+(Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
+given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
+article treatment functions. This will give you a "raw" article, just
+the way it came from the server.
+
@item W t
@kindex W t (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
(@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
+
@item W m
@kindex W m (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
(@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
-@end table
-
-There's a battery of commands for washing the article buffer:
-@table @kbd
-@item W W h
-@kindex W W h (Summary)
-@findex gnus-article-hide-headers
-Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}).
-@item W W s
-@kindex W W s (Summary)
-@findex gnus-article-hide-signature
-Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}).
-@item W W c
-@kindex W W c (Summary)
-@findex gnus-article-hide-citation
-Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}).
@item W o
@kindex W o (Summary)
@findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
+
@item W w
@kindex W w (Summary)
@findex gnus-article-word-wrap
Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-word-wrap}).
+
@item W c
@kindex W c (Summary)
@findex gnus-article-remove-cr
Remove CR (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
+
@item W q
@kindex W q (Summary)
@findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
+
@item W f
@kindex W f (Summary)
@cindex x-face
argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp)
matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
-@item W H a
-@kindex W H a
-@findex gnus-article-highlight
-Highlight the current article (@code{gnus-article-highlight}).
+@item W b
+@kindex W b (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-add-buttons
+Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
-@item W H h
-@kindex W H h
-@findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
-Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}).
+@item W B
+@kindex W B (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
+Add clickable buttons to the article headers
+(@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
-@item W H c
-@kindex W H c
-@findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
-Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
+@end table
-@item W H s
-@kindex W H s
-@findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
-Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
+
+@node Article Buttons
+@subsection Article Buttons
+@cindex buttons
+
+People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
+be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
+with the minimum of fuzz.
+
+Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
+Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
+two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
+article heads:
+
+@table @code
+
+@item gnus-button-alist
+@vindex gnus-header-button-alist
+This is an alist where each entry has this form:
+
+@lisp
+(REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
+@end lisp
+
+@table @var
+
+@item regexp
+All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
+external reference. Here's a typical regexp that match embedded URLs:
+@samp{"<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>"}.
+
+@item button-par
+Gnus has to know which parts of the match is to be highlighted. This is
+a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp that is to be
+highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use @samp{0} here.
+
+@item use-p
+This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
+this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
+avoid false matches.
+
+@item function
+This function will be called when you click on this button.
+
+@item data-par
+As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
+says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
+
+@end table
+
+So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
+
+@lisp
+("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
+@end lisp
+
+@item gnus-header-button-alist
+@vindex gnus-header-button-alist
+This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
+article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
+used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
+
+@lisp
+(HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
+@end lisp
+
+@var{header} is a regular expression.
+
+@end table
+
+@vindex gnus-article-button-face
+@vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
+Buttons are highlighted with @code{gnus-article-button-face}, while
+@code{gnus-article-mouse-face} is used when the mouse cursor is over the
+button.
+
+
+@node Article Date
+@subsection Article Date
+
+The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
+heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
+when the article was sent.
+
+@table @kbd
@item W T u
-@kindex W T u
+@kindex W T u (Summary)
@findex gnus-article-date-ut
Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
(@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
@item W T l
-@kindex W T l
+@kindex W T l (Summary)
@findex gnus-article-date-local
Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
@item W T e
-@kindex W T e
+@kindex W T e (Summary)
@findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
Say how much time has (e)lapsed between the article was posted and now
(@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}).
+@item W T o
+@kindex W T o (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-date-original
+Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
+be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and is
+worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
+that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
+@emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
@end table
+
@node Summary Sorting
@section Summary Sorting
@cindex summary sorting
toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
Commands}).
+
@node Finding the Parent
@section Finding the Parent
@cindex parent articles
you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
+@findex gnus-summary-refer-references
+@kindex A R (Summary)
+You can have Gnus fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References}
+header of the article by pushing @kbd{A R}
+(@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
+
@findex gnus-summary-refer-article
@kindex M-^ (Summary)
You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
(@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
-@code{Message-Id}, which is one of those long thingies that look
+@code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long thingies that look
something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You have to get
it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
@vindex gnus-refer-article-method
If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
-support fetching by @code{Message-Id} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
+support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the same
as the one that keeps the spool you are reading from updated, but that's
not really necessary.
-@node Score Files
-@section Score Files
-@cindex score files
+Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
+not do a particularly excellent job of it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
+@code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
+@code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
+have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
+consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
-Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
-scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
-something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
-attention!
-@vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
-All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}).
-This score may be raised or lowered either interactively or by score
-files. Articles that have a score lower than
-@code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
+@node Mail Group Commands
+@section Mail Group Commands
+@cindex mail group commands
-Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
-before generating the summary buffer.
+Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
+illegal in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
-There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
-entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
-lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
+All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
+process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
-There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
-Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
-temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
-silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
+@table @kbd
+@item B e
+@kindex B e (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
+Expire all expirable articles in the group
+(@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
-@menu
-* Summary Score Commands:: Adding score commands to the score file.
-* Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
-* Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
-* Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
-* Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus *knows* what you read.
-* Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
-* Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
-* Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
-* Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
-@end menu
+@item B M-C-e
+@kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
+Expunge all the expirable articles in the group
+(@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
+articles that are eligeble for expiry in the current group will
+disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
-@node Summary Score Commands
-@subsection Summary Score Commands
-@cindex score commands
+@item B DEL
+@kindex B DEL (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-delete-articles
+Delete the mail article. This is "delete" as in "delete it from your
+disk forever and ever, never to return again." Use with caution.
+(@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
-The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
-score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
-previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
-@dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
-entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
+@item B m
+@kindex B m (Summary)
+@cindex move mail
+@findex gnus-summary-move-article
+Move the article from one mail group to another
+(@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
-The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
-if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
-some other score file (eg. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
-score file the current one.
+@item B c
+@kindex B c (Summary)
+@cindex copy mail
+@findex gnus-summary-copy-article
+Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
+(@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
-General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
+@item B i
+@kindex B i (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-import-article
+Import a random file into the current mail newsgroup
+(@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
+name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
-@table @kbd
-@item V s
-@kindex V s (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-set-score
-Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
-@item V S
-@kindex V S (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-current-score
-Display the score of the current article
-(@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
-@item V t
-@kindex V t (Summary)
-@findex gnus-score-find-trace
-Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
-(@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
-@item V a
-@kindex V a (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-score-entry
-Add a new score entry, and allow specifying all elements
-(@code{gnus-summary-score-entry}).
-@item V c
-@kindex V c (Summary)
-@findex gnus-score-change-score-file
-Make a different score file the current
-(@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
-@item V e
-@kindex V e (Summary)
-@findex gnus-score-edit-alist
-Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-alist}). You will be
-popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score File
-Editing}).
-@item V f
-@kindex V f (Summary)
-@findex gnus-score-edit-file
-Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
-(@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
-@item I C-i
-@kindex I C-i (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-raise-score
-Increase the score of the current article
-(@code{gnus-summary-raise-score}).
-@item L C-l
-@kindex L C-l (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-lower-score
-Lower the score of the current article
-(@code{gnus-summary-lower-score}).
-@end table
+Something similar can be done by just starting to compose a mail
+message. Instead of typing @kbd{C-c C-c} to mail it off, you can type
+@kbd{C-c C-p} instead. This will put the message you have just created
+into the current mail group.
-The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
+@item B r
+@kindex B r (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-respool-article
+Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
-@table @kbd
-@item V m
-@kindex V m (Summary)
-@findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
-Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
-read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
-@item V E
-@kindex V E (Summary)
-@findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
-Expunge all articles with a score below the default score (or the
-numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
+@item B w
+@itemx e
+@kindex B w (Summary)
+@kindex e (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-edit-article
+@kindex C-c C-c (Article)
+Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
+editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
+(@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}).
+
+@item B q
+@kindex B q (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-respool-query
+If you want to respool an article, you might be curious as to what group
+the article will end up in before you do the respooling. This command
+will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-fancy-query}).
@end table
-The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
-pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
-them.)
+@node Various Summary Stuff
+@section Various Summary Stuff
-@enumerate
-@item
-The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
-or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
-@item
-The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
-keys are available:
-@table @kbd
-@item a
-Score on the author name.
-@item s
-Score on the subject line.
-@item x
-Score on the Xref line - i.e., the cross-posting line.
-@item t
-Score on thread - the References line.
-@item d
-Score on the date.
-@item l
-Score on the number of lines.
-@item i
-Score on the Message-ID.
-@item f
-Score on followups.
-@item b
-Score on the body.
-@item h
-Score on the head.
-@end table
+@menu
+* Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
+* Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
+* Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
+@end menu
-@item
-The third key is the match type. Which match types are legal depends on
-what headers you are scoring on.
+@vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
+@code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook} is called after the summary buffer has
+been generated. You might use it to, for instance, highlight lines or
+modify the look of the buffer in some other ungodly manner. I don't
+care.
-@table @code
-@item strings
+@node Group Information
+@subsection Group Information
@table @kbd
-@item e
-Exact matching.
-@item s
-Substring matching.
-@item f
-Fuzzy matching.
-@item r
-Regexp matching
+@item H f
+@kindex H f (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
+@vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
+Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
+current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
+FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
+on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
+In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
+between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} probably will be used for
+fetching the file.
+@item H d
+@kindex H d (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-describe-group
+Give a brief description of the current group
+(@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
+rereading the description from the server.
+@item H h
+@kindex H h (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
+Give a very brief description of the most important summary keystrokes
+(@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
+@item H i
+@kindex H i (Summary)
+@findex gnus-info-find-node
+Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
@end table
-@item date
+@node Searching for Articles
+@subsection Searching for Articles
+
@table @kbd
-@item b
-Before date.
-@item a
-At date.
-@item n
-This date.
+@item M-s
+@kindex M-s (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
+Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
+(@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
+@item M-r
+@kindex M-r (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
+Search through all previous articles for a regexp
+(@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
+@item &
+@kindex & (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-execute-command
+This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
+match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
+(@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}).
+@item M-&
+@kindex M-& (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
+Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
+the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
@end table
-@item number
+@node Really Various Summary Commands
+@subsection Really Various Summary Commands
+
@table @kbd
-@item <
-Less than number.
+@item A D
+@kindex A D (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
+If the current article is a digest, you might use this command to enter
+you into a group based on the current digest to ease reading
+(@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}).
+@item C-t
+@kindex C-t (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
+Toggle truncation of summary lines (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}).
@item =
-Equal to number.
-@item >
-Greater than number.
-@end table
+@kindex = (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-expand-window
+Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
+If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
@end table
-@item
-The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
-score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
-it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
-@table @kbd
-@item t
-Temporary score entry.
-@item p
-Permanent score entry.
-@item i
-Immediately scoring.
-@end table
+@node The Article Buffer
+@chapter The Article Buffer
+@cindex article buffer
-@end enumerate
+The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
+one. All the summary buffer share the same article buffer.
-So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
-exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
-score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
-temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
+@menu
+* Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
+* Using Mime:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
+* Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
+* Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer
+* Misc Article:: Other stuff.
+@end menu
-To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
-a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
-defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
-"substring" and "temporary". So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s t},
-and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
+@node Hiding Headers
+@section Hiding Headers
+@cindex hiding headers
+@cindex deleting headers
-@vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
-The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
-pretend they are keymaps or not.
+The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
+@dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
-@node Score Variables
-@subsection Score Variables
-@cindex score variables
+@vindex gnus-show-all-headers
+There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
+who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
+article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
+most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
+through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
+@code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
+of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
+article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
+
+Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
@table @code
-@item gnus-use-scoring
-@vindex gnus-use-scoring
-If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
-general, do any score-related work.
-@item gnus-kill-killed
-@vindex gnus-kill-killed
-If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
-articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
-may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
-to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
-group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
-variable to @code{t} to do that.
-@item gnus-kill-files-directory
-@vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
-All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
-initialized from the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
-@item gnus-score-file-suffix
-@vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
-Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
-(@samp{SCORE} by default.)
-@item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
-@vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
-Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
-score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
-ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
-We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
-manually entered data.
-@item gnus-summary-default-score
-@vindex gnus-summary-default-score
-Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
-@item gnus-score-over-mark
-@vindex gnus-score-over-mark
-Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
-default. Default is @samp{+}.
-@item gnus-score-below-mark
-@vindex gnus-score-below-mark
-Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
-default. Default is @samp{-}.
-@item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
-@vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
-Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
-is called with the name of the group as the argument.
+@item gnus-visible-headers
+@vindex gnus-visible-headers
+If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
+that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
+headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
-Predefined functions available are:
-@table @code
+For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
+the article and the subject, you'd say:
-@item gnus-score-find-single
-@findex gnus-score-find-single
-Only apply the group's own score file.
+@lisp
+(setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
+@end lisp
-@item gnus-score-find-bnews
-@findex gnus-score-find-bnews
-Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. For instance, if
-the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, @samp{all.emacs.all.SCORE},
-@samp{not.alt.all.SCORE} and @samp{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In
-short, the instances of @samp{all} in the score file names are
-translated into @samp{.*}, and then a regexp match is done.
+@item gnus-ignored-headers
+@vindex gnus-ignored-headers
+This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
+variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
+should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
+hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
-If @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} is non-@code{nil}, this won't work
-very will. It will find stuff like @file{gnu/all/SCORE}, but will not
-find files like @file{not/gnu/all/SCORE}.
+For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
+and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
-@item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
-@findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
-Apply all score files from all the parent groups.
-@end table
-This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
-functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
-be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
-directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
-alists should probably be placed before the "real" score file functions,
-to ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
-Phu.
-@item gnus-score-expiry-days
-@vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
-This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
-entry is expired. The default is 7.
-@end table
+@lisp
+(setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
+@end lisp
-@node Score File Format
-@subsection Score File Format
-@cindex score file format
+Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
+variable will have no effect.
+@end table
-A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
-single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
-everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
+@vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
+Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
+can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
+variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
+the headers are to be displayed.
-Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
+For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
+and then the subject, you might say something like:
@lisp
-(("from"
- ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
- ("Per Abrahamsen")
- ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
- ("subject"
- ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
- ("xref"
- ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
- ("lines"
- (2 -100 nil <))
- (mark 0)
- (expunge -1000)
- (mark-and-expunge -10)
- (read-only nil)
- (orphan -10)
- (adapt t)
- (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
- (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
- (gnus-summary-make-false-root 'empty))
- (eval (ding)))
+(setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
@end lisp
-This example demonstrates absolutely everything about a score file.
+Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
+variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers that
+are listed in this variable.
-Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
-@code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
-has to be legal syntactically, if not semantically.
+@node Using Mime
+@section Using Mime
+@cindex @sc{mime}
-Six keys are supported by this alist:
+Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
+while people stand around yawning.
-@table @code
-@item STRING
-If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
-match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
-@samp{From}, @samp{Subject}, @samp{References}, @samp{Message-ID},
-@samp{Xref}, @samp{Lines}, @samp{Chars} and @samp{Date}. In addition to
-these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
-article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @samp{Body}
-will perform the match on the body of the article, @samp{Head} will
-perform the match on the head of the article, and @samp{All} will
-perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
-last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}.
+@sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
+while all newsreaders die of fear.
-Following this key is a random number of score entries, where each score
-entry has one to four elements.
-@enumerate
-@item
-The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
-be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
-integer.
-@item
-If the second element is present, it should be a number - the @dfn{score
-element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
-interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
-is successful. If this element is not present, the
-@code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used instead.
-@item
-If the third element is present, it should be a number - the @dfn{date
-element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
-which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
-element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
-represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 ce.
-@item
-If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol - the @dfn{type
-element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
-whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
-be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
-@table @dfn
-@item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
-For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp) as
-well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types and @code{e} and
-@code{E} (exact match) types. If this element is not present, Gnus will
-assume that substring matching should be used. @code{R} and @code{S}
-differ from the other two in that the matches will be done in a
-case-sensitive manner. All these one-letter types are really just
-abbreviations for the @code{regexp}, @code{string} and @code{exact}
-types, which you can use instead, if you feel like.
-@item Lines, Chars
-These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
-@code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
-@item Date
-For the Date header we have three match types: @code{before}, @code{at}
-and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this ever being useful, but,
-like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide this function. Just in
-case. You never know. Better safe than sorry. Once burnt, twice shy.
-Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have sex on a first date.
-@item Head, Body, All
-These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
-header uses.
-@item Followup
-This match key will add a score entry on all articles that followup to
-some author. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header uses.
-@end table
-@end enumerate
+@sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
+of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
+other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
-@item mark
-The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
-lower than this number will be marked as read.
-@item expunge
-The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
-lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
-@item mark-and-expunge
-The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
-lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
-summary buffer.
-@item files
-The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
-are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
-this one was.
-@item exclude-files
-The clue of this entry should be any number of files. This files will
-not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
-other.
-@item eval
-The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
-ignored when handling global score files.
-@item read-only
-Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
-should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}).
-@item orphan
-The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
-parents will get this number added to their scores.
-@item adapt
-This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
-default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
-adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
-list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
-or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
-adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
-scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
-@code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
-not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
-groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
-insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
-it.
-@item local
-@cindex local variables
-The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
-Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
-and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
-strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
-much.
-@end table
+@vindex gnus-show-mime
+@vindex gnus-show-mime-method
+Gnus handles @sc{mime} by shoving the articles through
+@code{gnus-show-mime-method}, which is @code{metamail-buffer} by
+default. If @code{gnus-strict-mime} is non-@code{nil}, the @sc{mime}
+method will only be used it there are @sc{mime} headers in the article.
+Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use @sc{mime} all
+the time; it might be best to just use the toggling functions from the
+summary buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you
+enter the group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it,
+@sc{mime} has decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible
+sing-a-long song comes streaming out out your speakers, and you can't
+find the volume button, because there isn't one, and people are starting
+to look at you, and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you
+can't find the program to control the volume, and everybody else in the
+room suddenly decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel
+rather stupid.)
+
+Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
+
+
+@node Customizing Articles
+@section Customizing Articles
+@cindex article customization
+
+@vindex gnus-article-display-hook
+The @code{gnus-article-display-hook} is called after the article has
+been inserted into the article buffer. It is meant to handle all
+treatment of the article before it is displayed.
+
+By default it contains @code{gnus-article-hide-headers},
+@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}, and
+@code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight}, but there are thousands, nay
+millions, of functions you can put in this hook. For an overview of
+functions @xref{Article Highlighting}, @xref{Article Hiding},
+@xref{Article Washing}, @xref{Article Buttons} and @xref{Article Date}.
+
+You can, of course, write your own functions. The functions are called
+from the article buffer, and you can do anything you like, pretty much.
+There is no information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can
+change everything. However, you shouldn't delete any headers. Instead
+make them invisible if you want to make them go away.
-@node Score File Editing
-@subsection Score File Editing
-You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
-might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
-with a mode for that.
+@node Article Keymap
+@section Article Keymap
-It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
-additional commands:
+@c Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
+@c article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
+@c buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
+@c buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
+@c buffer.
+
+A few additional keystrokes are available:
@table @kbd
-@item C-c C-c
-@kindex C-c C-c (Score)
-@findex gnus-score-edit-done
-Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
-(@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
-@item C-c C-d
-@kindex C-c C-d (Score)
-@findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
-Insert the current date in numerical format
-(@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
-you were wondering.
+@item SPACE
+@kindex SPACE (Article)
+@findex gnus-article-next-page
+Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
+@item DEL
+@kindex DEL (Article)
+@findex gnus-article-prev-page
+Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
+@item C-c ^
+@kindex C-c ^ (Article)
+@findex gnus-article-refer-article
+If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
+@kbd{r}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
+(@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
+@item C-c C-m
+@kindex C-c C-m (Article)
+@findex gnus-article-mail
+Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
+given a prefix, include the mail.
+@item s
+@kindex s (Article)
+@findex gnus-article-show-summary
+Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
+(@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
+@item ?
+@kindex ? (Article)
+@findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
+Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
+(@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
@end table
-@node Adaptive Scoring
-@subsection Adaptive Scoring
-@cindex adaptive scoring
+@node Misc Article
+@section Misc Article
-If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
-happen automatically - as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
-stupidity, to be precise.
+@table @code
+@vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
+@item gnus-article-prepare-hook
+This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
+article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
+depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
+the contents of the article buffer.
+@vindex gnus-article-display-hook
+@item gnus-article-display-hook
+This hook is called as the last thing when displaying an article, and is
+intended for modifying the contents of the buffer, doing highlights,
+hiding headers, and the like.
+@vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
+@item gnus-article-mode-line-format
+This variable is a format string along the same lines as
+@code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. It accepts exactly the same
+format specifications as that variable.
+@vindex gnus-break-pages
+@item gnus-break-pages
+Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
+is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
+page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
+paging will not be done.
+@item gnus-page-delimiter
+@vindex gnus-page-delimiter
+This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
+(form linefeed).
+@end table
-@vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
-When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
-article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
-these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
-You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
-@code{t}.
+@node The Server Buffer
+@chapter The Server Buffer
-@vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
-To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
-the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. By default, it
-looks something like this:
+Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
+one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
+connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
+one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
+the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
+backend represents a virtual server.
-@lisp
-(defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
- '((gnus-unread-mark)
- (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
- (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
- (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
- (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
- (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
- (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
- (gnus-kill-file-mark)
- (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
-@end lisp
+For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
+different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
+on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
+use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
-As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
-variable name or a "real" mark - a character). Following this key is a
-random number of header/score pairs.
+These select methods specifications can sometimes become quite
+complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
+@sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number @samp{13}, which
+hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
+Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
+server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of putting
+names to methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
-To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example - this alist says that all
-articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
-score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
-lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
+To enter the server buffer, user the @kbd{^}
+(@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
-If you use this scheme, you should set @code{mark-below} to something
-small - like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random changes result
-in articles getting marked as read.
+@menu
+* Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
+* Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
+* Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
+* Servers & Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
+* Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
+@end menu
-After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
-become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
-the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
+@node Server Buffer Format
+@section Server Buffer Format
+@cindex server buffer format
-You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
-by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
-let you use different rules in different groups.
+@vindex gnus-server-line-format
+You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
+@code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
+variable, with some simple extensions:
-@vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
-The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
-group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended.
+@table @samp
+@item h
+How the news is fetched---the backend name.
+@item n
+The name of this server.
+@item w
+Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
+@end table
-@vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
-When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
-give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
-matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
-the length of the match is less than
-@code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
-this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
-this problem.
+@node Server Commands
+@section Server Commands
+@cindex server commands
-@node Scoring Tips
-@subsection Scoring Tips
-@cindex scoring tips
+@table @kbd
+@item SPC
+Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
+@item q
+Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
+@item l
+List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
+@item k
+Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
+@item y
+Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
+@item c
+Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
+@item a
+Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
+@item e
+Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
+@end table
+
+@node Example Methods
+@section Example Methods
+
+Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
-@table @dfn
-@item Crossposts
-If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
-the @code{Xref} header.
@lisp
-("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
+(nntp "news.funet.fi")
@end lisp
-@item Multiple crossposts
-If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
-more than, say, 3 groups:
+
+Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
+
@lisp
-("xref" (" +[^ ]+:[0-9]+ +[^ ]+:[0-9]+ +[^ ]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
+(nnspool "")
@end lisp
-@item Matching on the body
-This is generally not a very good idea - it takes a very long time.
-Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
-you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
-keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
-and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
-will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
-@code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
-the matches.
-@item Marking as read
-You will probably want to mark articles that has a score below a certain
-number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
-in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
+
+As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
+backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
+will.
+
+After these two elements, there may be a random number of @var{(variable
+form)} pairs.
+
+To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
+port @code{15} from that machine. This is what the select method should
+look like then:
+
@lisp
-((mark -100))
+(nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
@end lisp
-You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
-@item Negated charater classes
-If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
-That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
-@code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
-@end table
+You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
+variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example.
-@node Reverse Scoring
-@subsection Reverse Scoring
-@cindex reverse scoring
+@code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
+you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
+mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
+you private mail:
-If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
-subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
-like this in your score file:
+@lisp
+(nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
+@end lisp
+
+(This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
+that.
+
+Here's the method for the public spool:
@lisp
-(("subject"
- ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
- (mark 1)
- (expunge 1))
+(nnmh "public"
+ (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
+ (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
@end lisp
-So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
-rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
+@node Servers & Methods
+@section Servers & Methods
-@node Global Score Files
-@subsection Global Score Files
-@cindex global score files
+Wherever you would normally use a select method
+(eg. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
+when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
+instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
+over.
-Sure, other newsreaders have "global kill files". These are usually
-nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
-in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
-What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
-all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
-big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
+@node Unavailable Servers
+@section Unavailable Servers
-@vindex gnus-global-score-files
-All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
-@code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
-or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
-files are applicable to which group.
+If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
+@code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
+with that server will just be ignored. "It can't be opened," Gnus will
+tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
+actually the case or not.
-Say you want to use all score files in the
-@file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory and the single score
-file @file{/ftp@@ftp.ifi.uio.no:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE}:
+That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
+Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to the server
+@samp{nepholococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
+away from you, the machine is quite, so it takes 1 minute just to find
+out that it refuses connection from you today. If Gnus were to attempt
+to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't attempt to do
+that. Once it has gotten a single "connection refused", it will regard
+that server as "down".
-@lisp
-(setq gnus-global-score-files
- '("/ftp@@ftp.ifi.uio.no:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
- "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
-@end lisp
+So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
+How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
-@findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
-Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
-directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
-If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
-use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
+You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke ut
+with the following commands:
-Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
-somewhat. (That is - a lot.)
+@table @kbd
-If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
-just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
-world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
-wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
-sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
-premises! Yay! The net is saved!
+@item O
+@kindex O (Server)
+@findex gnus-server-open-server
+Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
+(@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
-Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
-head:
+@item C
+@kindex C (Server)
+@findex gnus-server-close-server
+Close the connection (if any) to the server
+(@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
-@itemize @bullet
-@item
-Articles that are heavily crossposted are probably junk.
-@item
-To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-Id}.
-@item
-Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
-@item
-Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
-lowered out of existence.
-@item
-Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
-articles completely.
-@item
-Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
-should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
-old articles for a long time.
-@end itemize
+@item D
+@kindex D (Server)
+@findex gnus-server-deny-server
+Mark the current server as unreachable
+(@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
-... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
-in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
-Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
-holding our breath yet?
+@item R
+@kindex R (Server)
+@findex gnus-server-remove-denials
+Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from all servers
+(@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
-@node Kill Files
-@subsection Kill Files
-@cindex kill files
+@end table
-Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
-entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Per
-thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
-In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
-than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
-files into score files.
+@node Scoring
+@chapter Scoring
+@cindex scoring
-Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
-forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
-sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
-that isn't a very good idea.
+Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
+scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
+something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
+attention!
-XCNormal kill files look like this:
+@vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
+All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
+which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
+interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
+@code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
-@lisp
-(gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
-(gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
-(gnus-expunge "X")
-@end lisp
+Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
+before generating the summary buffer.
-This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove them from
-the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
+There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
+entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
+lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
-Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
-encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
-interpreting it.
+There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
+Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
+temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
+silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
-Two functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
+@menu
+* Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
+* Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
+* Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
+* Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
+* Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
+* Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus *knows* what you read.
+* Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
+* Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
+* Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
+* Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
+@end menu
+
+@node Summary Score Commands
+@section Summary Score Commands
+@cindex score commands
+
+The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
+score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
+previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
+@dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
+entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
+
+The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
+if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
+some other score file (eg. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
+score file the current one.
+
+General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
@table @kbd
-@item M-k
-@kindex M-k (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
-Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
+@item V s
+@kindex V s (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-set-score
+Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
-@item M-K
-@kindex M-K (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
-Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
+@item V S
+@kindex V S (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-current-score
+Display the score of the current article
+(@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
+
+@item V t
+@kindex V t (Summary)
+@findex gnus-score-find-trace
+Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
+(@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
+
+@item V a
+@kindex V a (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-score-entry
+Add a new score entry, and allow specifying all elements
+(@code{gnus-summary-score-entry}).
+
+@item V c
+@kindex V c (Summary)
+@findex gnus-score-change-score-file
+Make a different score file the current
+(@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
+
+@item V e
+@kindex V e (Summary)
+@findex gnus-score-edit-alist
+Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-alist}). You will be
+popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score File
+Editing}).
+
+@item V f
+@kindex V f (Summary)
+@findex gnus-score-edit-file
+Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
+(@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
+
+@item V C
+@kindex V C (Summary)
+@findex gnus-score-customize
+Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
+(@code{gnus-score-customize}).
+
+@item I C-i
+@kindex I C-i (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-raise-score
+Increase the score of the current article
+(@code{gnus-summary-raise-score}).
+
+@item L C-l
+@kindex L C-l (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-lower-score
+Lower the score of the current article
+(@code{gnus-summary-lower-score}).
@end table
-@vindex gnus-kill-file-name
-A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
-@file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
-this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
-The "global" kill file (not in the score file sense of "global", of
-course) is called just @file{KILL}.
+The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
-@vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
-If @code{gnus-kill-save-kill-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
-kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
-kills.
+@table @kbd
+@item V m
+@kindex V m (Summary)
+@findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
+Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
+read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
+@item V E
+@kindex V E (Summary)
+@findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
+Expunge all articles with a score below the default score (or the
+numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
+@end table
+
+The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
+pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
+them.)
+
+@enumerate
+@item
+The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
+or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
+@item
+The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
+keys are available:
+@table @kbd
+@item a
+Score on the author name.
+@item s
+Score on the subject line.
+@item x
+Score on the Xref line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
+@item t
+Score on thread---the References line.
+@item d
+Score on the date.
+@item l
+Score on the number of lines.
+@item i
+Score on the Message-ID.
+@item f
+Score on followups.
+@item b
+Score on the body.
+@item h
+Score on the head.
+@end table
+@item
+The third key is the match type. Which match types are legal depends on
+what headers you are scoring on.
-@node Mail Group Commands
-@section Mail Group Commands
-@cindex mail group commands
+@table @code
+@item strings
-Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
-illegal in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
+@table @kbd
+@item e
+Exact matching.
+@item s
+Substring matching.
+@item f
+Fuzzy matching.
+@item r
+Regexp matching
+@end table
-All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
-process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
+@item date
+@table @kbd
+@item b
+Before date.
+@item a
+At date.
+@item n
+This date.
+@end table
+@item number
@table @kbd
-@item B e
-@kindex B e (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
-Expire all expirable articles in the group
-(@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
+@item <
+Less than number.
+@item =
+Equal to number.
+@item >
+Greater than number.
+@end table
+@end table
-@item B M-C-e
-@kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
-Expunge all the expirable articles in the group
-(@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
-articles that are eligeble for expiry in the current group will
-disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
+@item
+The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
+score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
+it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
+@table @kbd
+@item t
+Temporary score entry.
+@item p
+Permanent score entry.
+@item i
+Immediately scoring.
+@end table
-@item B DEL
-@kindex B DEL (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-delete-articles
-Delete the mail article. This is "delete" as in "delete it from your
-disk forever and ever, never to return again." Use with caution.
-(@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
+@end enumerate
-@item B m
-@kindex B m (Summary)
-@cindex move mail
-@findex gnus-summary-move-article
-Move the article from one mail group to another
-(@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
+So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
+exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
+score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
+temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
-@item B c
-@kindex B c (Summary)
-@cindex copy mail
-@findex gnus-summary-copy-article
-Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
-(@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
+To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
+a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
+defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
+"substring" and "temporary". So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s t},
+and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
-@item B i
-@kindex B i (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-import-article
-Import a random file into the current mail newsgroup
-(@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
-name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
+@vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
+The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
+pretend they are keymaps or not.
-@item B r
-@kindex B r (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-respool-article
-Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
-@item B w
-@itemx e
-@kindex B w (Summary)
-@kindex e (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-edit-article
-@kindex C-c C-c (Article)
-Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
-editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
-(@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}).
+@node Group Score Commands
+@section Group Score Commands
+@cindex group score commands
-@item B q
-@kindex B q (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-fancy-query
-If you are using fancy splitting, this command will tell you where an
-article would go (@code{gnus-summary-fancy-query}).
-@end table
+There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
-@node Various Summary Stuff
-@section Various Summary Stuff
+@table @kbd
-@menu
-* Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
-* Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
-* Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
-@end menu
+@item W f
+@kindex W f (Group)
+@findex gnus-score-flush-cache
+Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
+all the time. This command will flush the cache
+(@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
-@vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
-@code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook} is called after the summary buffer has
-been generated. You might use it to, for instance, highlight lines or
-modify the look of the buffer in some other ungodly manner. I don't
-care.
+@end table
-@node Group Information
-@subsection Group Information
-@table @kbd
-@item H f
-@kindex H f (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
-@vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
-Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
-current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
-FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
-on a remote machine. @code{ange-ftp} will be used for fetching the file.
-@item H d
-@kindex H d (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-describe-group
-Give a brief description of the current group
-(@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
-rereading the description from the server.
-@item H h
-@kindex H h (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
-Give a very brief description of the most important summary keystrokes
-(@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
-@item H i
-@kindex H i (Summary)
-@findex gnus-info-find-node
-Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
-@end table
+@node Score Variables
+@section Score Variables
+@cindex score variables
-@node Searching for Articles
-@subsection Searching for Articles
+@table @code
+@item gnus-use-scoring
+@vindex gnus-use-scoring
+If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
+general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
-@table @kbd
-@item M-s
-@kindex M-s (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
-Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
-(@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
-@item M-r
-@kindex M-r (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
-Search through all previous articles for a regexp
-(@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
-@item &
-@kindex & (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-execute-command
-This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
-match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
-(@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}).
-@item M-&
-@kindex M-& (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
-Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
-the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
-@end table
+@item gnus-kill-killed
+@vindex gnus-kill-killed
+If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
+articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
+may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
+to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
+group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
+variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
-@node Really Various Summary Commands
-@subsection Really Various Summary Commands
+@item gnus-kill-files-directory
+@vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
+All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
+initialized from the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
+This is @file{~/News/} by default.
-@table @kbd
-@item A D
-@kindex A D (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
-If the current article is a digest, you might use this command to enter
-you into a group based on the current digest to ease reading
-(@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}).
-@item C-t
-@kindex C-t (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
-Toggle truncation of summary lines (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}).
-@item =
-@kindex = (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-expand-window
-Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
-If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
-@end table
+@item gnus-score-file-suffix
+@vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
+Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
+(@samp{SCORE} by default.)
-@node The Article Buffer
-@chapter The Article Buffer
-@cindex article buffer
+@item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
+@vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
+@cindex score cache
+All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
+score files. However, if this might make you Emacs grow big and
+bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files that are
+unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
+@file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
+@file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
+variable is @samp{"ADAPT$"} by default, so no adaptive score files will
+be cached.
+
+@item gnus-save-score
+@vindex gnus-save-score
+If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
+scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
+Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
+
+@item gnus-save-score
+@vindex gnus-save-score
+If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
+scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
+Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
-The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
-one. All the summary buffer share the same article buffer.
+@item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
+@vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
+Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
+score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
+ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
+We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
+manually entered data.
-@menu
-* Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
-* Using Mime:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
-* Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
-* Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer
-* Misc Article:: Other stuff.
-@end menu
+@item gnus-summary-default-score
+@vindex gnus-summary-default-score
+Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
+
+@item gnus-score-over-mark
+@vindex gnus-score-over-mark
+Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
+default. Default is @samp{+}.
+
+@item gnus-score-below-mark
+@vindex gnus-score-below-mark
+Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
+default. Default is @samp{-}.
-@node Hiding Headers
-@section Hiding Headers
-@cindex hiding headers
-@cindex deleting headers
+@item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
+@vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
+Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
+is called with the name of the group as the argument.
-The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
-@dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
+Predefined functions available are:
+@table @code
-@vindex gnus-show-all-headers
-There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
-who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
-article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
-most people do not want to see - what systems the article has passed
-through before reaching you, the @code{Message-Id}, the
-@code{References}, etc. ad nauseum - and you'll probably want to get rid
-of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
-article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
+@item gnus-score-find-single
+@findex gnus-score-find-single
+Only apply the group's own score file.
-Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
+@item gnus-score-find-bnews
+@findex gnus-score-find-bnews
+Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
+default. For instance, if the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus},
+@samp{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @samp{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
+@samp{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
+@samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
+then a regexp match is done.
-@table @code
-@item gnus-visible-headers
-@vindex gnus-visible-headers
-If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
-that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
-headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
+If @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} is non-@code{nil}, this won't work
+very will. It will find stuff like @file{gnu/all/SCORE}, but will not
+find files like @file{not/gnu/all/SCORE}.
-For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
-the article and the subject, you'd say:
+@item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
+@findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
+Apply all score files from all the parent groups.
+@end table
+This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
+functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
+be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
+directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
+alists should probably be placed before the "real" score file functions,
+to ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
+Phu.
+@item gnus-score-expiry-days
+@vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
+This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
+entry is expired. The default is 7.
+@end table
-@lisp
-(setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
-@end lisp
+@node Score File Format
+@section Score File Format
+@cindex score file format
-@item gnus-ignored-headers
-@vindex gnus-ignored-headers
-This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
-variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
-should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
-hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
+A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
+single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
+everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
-For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
-and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
+Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
@lisp
-(setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
+(("from"
+ ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
+ ("Per Abrahamsen")
+ ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
+ ("subject"
+ ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
+ ("xref"
+ ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
+ ("lines"
+ (2 -100 nil <))
+ (mark 0)
+ (expunge -1000)
+ (mark-and-expunge -10)
+ (read-only nil)
+ (orphan -10)
+ (adapt t)
+ (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
+ (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
+ (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
+ (gnus-summary-make-false-root 'empty))
+ (eval (ding)))
@end lisp
-Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
-variable will have no effect.
-@end table
+This example demonstrates absolutely everything about a score file.
-@vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
-Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
-can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
-variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
-the headers are to be displayed.
+Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
+@code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
+has to be legal syntactically, if not semantically.
-For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
-and then the subject, you might say something like:
+Six keys are supported by this alist:
-@lisp
-(setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
-@end lisp
+@table @code
+@item STRING
+If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
+match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
+@samp{From}, @samp{Subject}, @samp{References}, @samp{Message-ID},
+@samp{Xref}, @samp{Lines}, @samp{Chars} and @samp{Date}. In addition to
+these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
+article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @samp{Body}
+will perform the match on the body of the article, @samp{Head} will
+perform the match on the head of the article, and @samp{All} will
+perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
+last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
+final "header" you can score on is @samp{Followup}. These score entries
+will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups to
+articles that matches these score entries.
-Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
-variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers that
-are listed in this variable.
+Following this key is a random number of score entries, where each score
+entry has one to four elements.
+@enumerate
+@item
+The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
+be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
+integer.
+@item
+If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
+element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
+interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
+is successful. If this element is not present, the
+@code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
+instead. This is 1000 by default.
+@item
+If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
+element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
+which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
+element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
+represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 ce.
+@item
+If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
+element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
+whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
+be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
+@table @dfn
+@item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
+For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp) as
+well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types and @code{e} and
+@code{E} (exact match) types. If this element is not present, Gnus will
+assume that substring matching should be used. @code{R} and @code{S}
+differ from the other two in that the matches will be done in a
+case-sensitive manner. All these one-letter types are really just
+abbreviations for the @code{regexp}, @code{string} and @code{exact}
+types, which you can use instead, if you feel like.
+@item Lines, Chars
+These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
+@code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
+@item Date
+For the Date header we have three match types: @code{before}, @code{at}
+and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this ever being useful, but,
+like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide this function. Just in
+case. You never know. Better safe than sorry. Once burnt, twice shy.
+Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have sex on a first date.
+@item Head, Body, All
+These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
+header uses.
+@item Followup
+This match key will add a score entry on all articles that followup to
+some author. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header uses.
+@end table
+@end enumerate
-@node Using Mime
-@section Using Mime
-@cindex @sc{mime}
+@item mark
+The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
+lower than this number will be marked as read.
+@item expunge
+The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
+lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
+@item mark-and-expunge
+The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
+lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
+summary buffer.
+@item files
+The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
+are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
+this one was.
+@item exclude-files
+The clue of this entry should be any number of files. This files will
+not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
+other.
+@item eval
+The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
+ignored when handling global score files.
+@item read-only
+Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
+should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}).
+@item orphan
+The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
+parents will get this number added to their scores.
+@item adapt
+This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
+default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
+adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
+list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
+or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
+adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
+scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
+@code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
+not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
+groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
+insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
+it.
+@item local
+@cindex local variables
+The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
+Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
+and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
+strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
+much.
+@end table
-Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
-while people stand around yawning.
+@node Score File Editing
+@section Score File Editing
-@sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
-while all newsreaders die of fear.
+You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
+might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
+with a mode for that.
-@sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
-of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
-other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
+It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
+additional commands:
-@vindex gnus-show-mime
-@vindex gnus-show-mime-method
-Gnus handles @sc{mime} by shoving the articles through
-@code{gnus-show-mime-method}, which is @code{metamail-buffer} by
-default. If @code{gnus-strict-mime} is non-@code{nil}, the @sc{mime}
-method will only be used it there are @sc{mime} headers in the article.
-Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use @sc{mime} all
-the time; it might be best to just use the toggling functions from the
-summary buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you
-enter the group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it,
-@sc{mime} has decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible
-sing-a-long song comes streaming out out your speakers, and you can't
-find the volume button, because there isn't one, and people are starting
-to look at you, and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you
-can't find the program to control the volume, and everybody else in the
-room suddenly decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel
-rather stupid.)
+@table @kbd
+@item C-c C-c
+@kindex C-c C-c (Score)
+@findex gnus-score-edit-done
+Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
+(@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
+@item C-c C-d
+@kindex C-c C-d (Score)
+@findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
+Insert the current date in numerical format
+(@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
+you were wondering.
+@end table
-Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
+@node Adaptive Scoring
+@section Adaptive Scoring
+@cindex adaptive scoring
-@node Customizing Articles
-@section Customizing Articles
-@cindex article customization
+If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
+happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
+stupidity, to be precise.
-@vindex gnus-article-display-hook
-The @code{gnus-article-display-hook} is called after the article has
-been inserted into the article buffer. It is meant to handle all
-treatment of the article before it is displayed. By default it contains
-@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}, which hides unwanted headers.
+@vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
+When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
+article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
+these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
+You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
+@code{t}.
-@findex gnus-article-subcite
-@findex gnus-article-hide-signature
-@findex gnus-article-hide-citation
-Other useful functions you might add to this hook is:
+@vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
+To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
+the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. By default, it
+looks something like this:
-@table @code
-@item gnus-article-hide-citation
-Hide all cited text.
-@item gnus-article-hide-signature
-Umn, hides the signature.
-@item gnus-article-treat-overstrike
-Treat @samp{^H_} in a reasonable manner.
-@item gnus-article-maybe-highlight
-Do fancy article highlighting.
-@item gnus-article-remove-cr
-Removes trailing carriage returns.
-@item gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
-Do naive decoding of articles encoded with Quoted-Printable.
-@item gnus-article-display-x-face
-Displays any X-Face headers.
-@end table
+@lisp
+(defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
+ '((gnus-unread-mark)
+ (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
+ (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
+ (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
+ (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
+ (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
+ (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
+ (gnus-kill-file-mark)
+ (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
+@end lisp
-You can, of course, write your own functions. The functions are called
-from the article buffer, and you can do anything you like, pretty much.
-There is no information that you have to keep in the buffer - you can
-change everything. However, you shouldn't delete any headers. Instead
-make them invisible if you want to make them go away.
+As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
+variable name or a "real" mark---a character). Following this key is a
+random number of header/score pairs.
-@node Article Keymap
-@section Article Keymap
+To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
+articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
+score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
+lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
-@c Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
-@c article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
-@c buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
-@c buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
-@c buffer.
+The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
+@code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
+@code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
+@code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
+on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
+current article, thereby matching the following thread.
-A few additional keystrokes are available:
+If you use this scheme, you should set @code{mark-below} to something
+small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random changes result
+in articles getting marked as read.
-@table @kbd
-@item SPACE
-@kindex SPACE (Article)
-@findex gnus-article-next-page
-Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
-@item DEL
-@kindex DEL (Article)
-@findex gnus-article-prev-page
-Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
-@item C-c ^
-@kindex C-c ^ (Article)
-@findex gnus-article-refer-article
-If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-Id} and you press
-@kbd{r}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
-(@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
-@item C-c C-m
-@kindex C-c C-m (Article)
-@findex gnus-article-mail
-Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
-given a prefix, include the mail.
-@item s
-@kindex s (Article)
-@findex gnus-article-show-summary
-Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
-(@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
-@item ?
-@kindex ? (Article)
-@findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
-Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
-(@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
-@end table
+After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
+become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
+the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
-@node Misc Article
-@section Misc Article
+You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
+by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
+let you use different rules in different groups.
-@table @code
-@vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
-@item gnus-article-prepare-hook
-This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
-article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
-depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
-the contents of the article buffer.
-@vindex gnus-article-display-hook
-@item gnus-article-display-hook
-This hook is called as the last thing when displaying an article, and is
-intended for modifying the contents of the buffer, doing highlights,
-hiding headers, and the like.
-@vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
-@item gnus-article-mode-line-format
-This variable is a format string along the same lines as
-@code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. It accepts exactly the same
-format specifications as that variable.
-@vindex gnus-break-pages
-@item gnus-break-pages
-Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
-is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
-page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
-paging will not be done.
-@item gnus-page-delimiter
-@vindex gnus-page-delimiter
-This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
-(form linefeed).
-@end table
+@vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
+The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
+group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
+is @samp{ADAPT}.
-@node The Server Buffer
-@chapter The Server Buffer
+@vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
+When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
+give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
+matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
+the length of the match is less than
+@code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
+this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
+this problem.
-Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
-one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
-connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
-one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
-the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
-backend represents a virtual server.
+@node Scoring Tips
+@section Scoring Tips
+@cindex scoring tips
-For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
-different actual nntp servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports on
-the same actual nntp server. You tell Gnus which backend to use, and
-what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
+@table @dfn
+@item Crossposts
+If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
+the @code{Xref} header.
+@lisp
+("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
+@end lisp
+@item Multiple crossposts
+If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
+more than, say, 3 groups:
+@lisp
+("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
+@end lisp
+@item Matching on the body
+This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
+Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
+you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
+keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
+and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
+will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
+@code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
+the matches.
+@item Marking as read
+You will probably want to mark articles that has a score below a certain
+number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
+in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
+@lisp
+((mark -100))
+@end lisp
+You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
-These select methods specifications can sometimes become quite
-complicated - say, for instance, that you want to read from the nntp
-server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number @samp{13}, which hangs if
-queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem. Anyways, if
-you had to specify that for each group that used this server, that would
-be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of putting names to methods,
-which is what you do in the server buffer.
+@item Negated charater classes
+If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
+That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
+@code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
+@end table
-@menu
-* Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
-* Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
-* Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
-* Servers & Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
-@end menu
+@node Reverse Scoring
+@section Reverse Scoring
+@cindex reverse scoring
-@node Server Buffer Format
-@section Server Buffer Format
-@cindex server buffer format
+If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
+subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
+like this in your score file:
-@vindex gnus-server-line-format
-You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
-@code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
-variable, with some simple extensions:
+@lisp
+(("subject"
+ ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
+ (mark 1)
+ (expunge 1))
+@end lisp
-@table @samp
-@item h
-How the news is fetched - the backend name.
-@item n
-The name of this server.
-@item w
-Where the news is to be fetched from - the address.
-@end table
+So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
+rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
-@node Server Commands
-@section Server Commands
-@cindex server commands
+@node Global Score Files
+@section Global Score Files
+@cindex global score files
-@table @kbd
-@item SPC
-Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
-@item q
-Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
-@item l
-List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
-@item k
-Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
-@item y
-Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
-@item c
-Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
-@item a
-Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
-@item e
-Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
-@end table
+Sure, other newsreaders have "global kill files". These are usually
+nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
+in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
-@node Example Methods
-@section Example Methods
+What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
+all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
+big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
-Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
+@vindex gnus-global-score-files
+All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
+@code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
+or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
+files are applicable to which group.
+
+Say you want to use all score files in the
+@file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory and the single score
+file @file{/ftp@@ftp.ifi.uio.no:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE}:
@lisp
-(nntp "news.funet.fi")
+(setq gnus-global-score-files
+ '("/ftp@@ftp.ifi.uio.no:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
+ "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
@end lisp
-Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
+@findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
+Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
+directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
+If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
+use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
-@lisp
-(nnspool "")
-@end lisp
+Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
+somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
-As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
-backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
-will.
+If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
+just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
+world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
+wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
+sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
+premises! Yay! The net is saved!
-After these two elements, there may be a random number of @var{(variable
-form)} pairs.
+Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
+head:
-To go back to the first example - imagine that you want to read from
-port @code{15} from that machine. This is what the select method should
-look like then:
+@itemize @bullet
+@item
+Articles that are heavily crossposted are probably junk.
+@item
+To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
+@item
+Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
+@item
+Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
+lowered out of existence.
+@item
+Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
+articles completely.
+@item
+Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
+should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
+old articles for a long time.
+@end itemize
-@lisp
-(nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
-@end lisp
+... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
+in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
+Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
+holding our breath yet?
-You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
-variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example.
-@code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
-you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
-mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
-you private mail:
+@node Kill Files
+@section Kill Files
+@cindex kill files
-@lisp
-(nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
-@end lisp
+Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
+entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
+Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
-(This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
-that.
+In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
+than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
+files into score files.
-Here's the method for the public spool:
+Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
+forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
+sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
+that isn't a very good idea.
+
+XCNormal kill files look like this:
@lisp
-(nnmh "public"
- (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
- (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
+(gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
+(gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
+(gnus-expunge "X")
@end lisp
-@node Servers & Methods
-@section Servers & Methods
+This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove them from
+the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
+
+Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
+encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
+interpreting it.
+
+Two functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
+
+@table @kbd
+@item M-k
+@kindex M-k (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
+Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
+
+@item M-K
+@kindex M-K (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
+Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
+@end table
+
+@vindex gnus-kill-file-name
+A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
+@file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
+this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
+The "global" kill file (not in the score file sense of "global", of
+course) is called just @file{KILL}.
+
+@vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
+If @code{gnus-kill-save-kill-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
+kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
+kills.
+
-Wherever you would normally use a select method
-(eg. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
-when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
-instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
-over.
@node Various
* Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
* Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
* Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
+* Compilation & Init File:: How to speed Gnus up.
+* Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
+* NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
* Various Various:: Things that are really various.
@end menu
If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
really. You will be given questions of the type "Are you sure you want
-to do this?" before doing anything dangerous.
+to do this?" before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
+default.
+
@item gnus-expert-user
@vindex gnus-expert-user
If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will never ever be asked any
questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what your are doing,
no matter how strange.
+
@item gnus-interactive-catchup
@vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
-Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}.
+Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
+is @code{t} by default.
+
@item gnus-interactive-post
@vindex gnus-interactive-post
If non-@code{nil}, the user will be prompted for a group name when
-posting an article.
+posting an article. It is @code{t} by default.
+
@item gnus-interactive-exit
@vindex gnus-interactive-exit
-Require confirmation before exiting Gnus.
+Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
+default.
@end table
+
@node Windows Configuration
@section Windows Configuration
@cindex windows configuration
is either a cons cell where the car contains a text to be displayed and
the cdr contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
+
+@node Compilation & Init File
+@section Compilation & Init File
+@cindex compilation
+@cindex init file
+@cindex byte-compilation
+
+@vindex gnus-init-file
+@findex gnus-compile
+When Gnus starts up, it will read the Gnus init file
+@code{gnus-init-file}, which is @file{.gnus} by default. It is
+recommended that you keep any Gnus-related functions that you have
+written in that file. If you want to byte-compile the file, Gnus offers
+the handy @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} function that will do that for you.
+
+That's not really why that function was written, though.
+
+Remember all those line format specification variables?
+@code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
+on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
+unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
+(The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
+associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
+course.)
+
+To help with this, you can run @code{gnus-compile} after you've fiddled
+around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of) satisfied.
+This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and you'll get
+top speed again.
+
+The result of these byte-compilations will be written to
+@file{.gnus.elc} by default.
+
+Note that Gnus will read @file{.gnus.elc} instead of @file{.gnus} if
+@file{.gnus.elc} exists, so if you change @file{.gnus}, you should
+remove @file{.gnus.elc}.
+
+
+@node Daemons
+@section Daemons
+@cindex demons
+@cindex daemons
+
+Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
+of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
+present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
+while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
+when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
+
+Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
+@dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
+@var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
+
+Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
+been idle for thirty minutes:
+
+@lisp
+(gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
+@end lisp
+
+Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
+idle:
+
+@lisp
+(gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
+@end lisp
+
+This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter works together
+in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
+@code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
+
+If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
+@var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
+the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
+function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
+
+If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
+be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
+@var{idle} minutes.
+
+If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
+will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
+minutes.
+
+And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{"07:31"}, and
+the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
+time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
+
+@vindex gnus-demon-timestep
+(When I say "minute" here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
+seconds. This is @samp{60} by default. If you change that variable,
+all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
+
+@vindex gnus-use-demon
+To set the whole thing in motion, though, you have to set
+@code{gnus-use-demon} to @code{t}.
+
+@vindex gnus-use-demon
+To set the whole thing in motion, though, you have to set
+@code{gnus-use-demon} to @code{t}.
+
+So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
+your @file{.gnus} file:
+
+@findex gnus-demon-add-handler
+@lisp
+(gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
+@end lisp
+
+@findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
+@findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
+@findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
+Some ready-made functions to do this has been created:
+@code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection}, and
+@code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
+@file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
+
+@findex gnus-demon-init
+@findex gnus-demon-cancel
+@vindex gnus-demon-handlers
+If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
+run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
+daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
+
+Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you overdo it. Adding
+functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
+is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
+behave.
+
+
+@node NoCeM
+@section NoCeM
+@cindex nocem
+@cindex spam
+
+
+
@node Various Various
@section Various Various
@cindex mode lines
@vindex gnus-verbose
This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
-will never flash any messages, if it is seven, most important messages
-will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever shut up, but will flash
-so many messages it will make your head swim.
+will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
+most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
+shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
+
@item gnus-updated-mode-lines
@vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
This is a list of buffers that should keep their mode lines updated.
@item gnus-visual
@vindex gnus-visual
+@cindex visual
+@cindex highlighting
+@cindex menus
+
If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy colors
or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-visual.el}
file.
+
+This variable can also be a list of visual properties that are enabled.
+The following elements are legal, and are all set by default:
+
+@table @code
+
+@item summary-highlight
+Perform various highlighting in the summary buffer.
+
+@item article-highlight
+Perform various highlighting in the article buffer.
+
+@item highlight
+Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
+
+@item group-menu
+Create menus in the group buffer.
+
+@item summary-menu
+Create menus in the summary buffer.
+
+@item article-menu
+Create menus in the article buffer.
+
+@item browse-menu
+Create menus in the browse buffer.
+
+@item server-menu
+Create menus in the server buffer.
+
+@item menu
+Create menus in all buffers.
+
+@end table
+
+So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
+buffers, you couls say something like:
+
+@lisp
+(setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
+@end lisp
+
+If you want only highlighting and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
+
+@lisp
+(setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
+@end lisp
+
@item gnus-mouse-face
@vindex gnus-mouse-face
This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
set the resource @code{Emacs.backgroundMode} in your @file{~/.Xdefaults}.
`gnus-display-type'.
+@item nnheader-max-head-length
+@vindex nnheader-max-head-length
+When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
+as little as possible. This variable (default @code{4096}) specifies
+the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
+on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
+variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
+@code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
+but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
+@code{ange-ftp}.
+
+
@end table
@node Customization
buffer all the time.
@item gnus-visible-headers
Cut down on the headers that are included in the articles to the
-minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether - most of the
+minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
@samp{"^NEVVVVER"} or @samp{"From:"}, or whatever you feel you need.
@item gnus-article-display-hook
@table @code
@item gnus-save-newsrc-file
-If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc} - it will
+If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
-use any other newsreaders than Gnus.
+use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
+default.
+
@item gnus-save-killed-list
If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
-variable to @code{nil}.
+variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
+
@end table
+
@node Slow Machine
@section Slow Machine
Set @code{gnus-article-display-hook} to @code{nil} to make article
processing a bit faster.
+
@node Troubleshooting
@chapter Troubleshooting
@cindex troubleshooting
-Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box - I can't imagine any
+Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
problems, really.
Ahem.
@enumerate
+
@item
Make sure your computer is switched on.
+
@item
Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
Gnus will work.
+
@item
Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
+
@item
Read the help group (@kbd{M h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
how-to.
@end enumerate
-If all else fails, report the problem as a bug,
+If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
@cindex bugs
@cindex reporting bugs
me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
-@c If you just need help, you are better off asking on
-@c @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}.
+You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
+@kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
+a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
+environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
+time.
+
+It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
+you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you send back
+just "No, it's not! Moron!", I will have no idea what you are insulting
+me about. Always overexplain everything. It's much easier for all of
+us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just mail you
+and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
+
+If you just need help, you are better off asking on
+@samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
+
@node The End
@chapter The End
-Well, that's the manual - you can get on with your life now. Keep in
+Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
-My @strong{ghod} - I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
+My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
Ol' Chuck Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
but at the common table.@*
@end quotation
-@node Appendix
-@chapter A Programmer's Guide to Gnus
+@node Appendices
+@chapter Appendices
+
+@menu
+* A Programmer's Guide to Gnus:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
+* Emacs for Heathens:: A short intruduction to Emacsian terms.
+* Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
+@end menu
+
+
+@node A Programmer's Guide to Gnus
+@section A Programmer's Guide to Gnus
It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
@node Backend Interface
-@section Backend Interface
+@subsection Backend Interface
-Gnus doesn't know anything about nntp, spools, mail or virtual groups.
-It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual server is
-a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples of the
-first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
+Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
+groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
+server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
+of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
-@code{nnmbox-directory}.
+@code{nnmbox-directory}.
-When Gnus asks for information from a backend -- say @code{nntp} -- on
+When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the "current"
virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
@code{nnchoke}.
+@cindex @code{nnchoke}
+
@menu
* Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
* Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
@node Required Backend Functions
-@subsection Required Backend Functions
+@subsubsection Required Backend Functions
@table @code
-@item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER)
+@item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
@var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
-@code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either - only
+@code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
+If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try to fetch "extra
+headers, in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
+fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
+article number in @code{articles}, and fill in the gaps as well. The
+presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
+cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
+number, do maximum fetches.
+
Here's an example HEAD:
@example
the subject of the message. @var{article-buffer} is the buffer being
followed up, if that is the case. @var{info} is the group info.
@var{follow-to} is the group that one is supposed to re-direct the
-article to. If @var{respect-poster} is non-@code{nil}, the special
+article ot. If @var{respect-poster} is non-@code{nil}, the special
@samp{"poster"} value of a @code{Followup-To} header is to be respected.
There should be no result data returned.
@end table
@node Optional Backend Functions
-@subsection Optional Backend Functions
+@subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
@table @code
request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
-to be heeded -- if the backend decides that it is too much work just
+to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
There should be no data returned.
+
+@item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
+
+This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
+really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
+itself. (If there is such a thing as "the group itself".)
+
+There should be no data returned.
+
+
+@item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
+
+This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
+articles that are in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
+
+There should be no data returned.
+
+
@end table
@node Score File Syntax
-@section Score File Syntax
+@subsection Score File Syntax
Score files are meant to be easily parsable, but yet extremely
mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
exclude-files / read-only / touched
optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
-nil-or-t = "nil" / <integer>
+nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
-left up to the programmer -- if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
+left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
one looong line, then that's ok.
The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
manual.
@node Headers
-@section Headers
+@subsection Headers
Gnus uses internally a format for storing article headers that
corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
@dfn{Header} is a severly overloaded term. "Header" is used in RFC1036
to talk about lines in the head of an article (eg., @code{From}). It is
-used by many people as a synonym for "head" -- "the header and the
+used by many people as a synonym for "head"---"the header and the
body". (That should be avoided, in my opinion.) And Gnus uses a format
interanally that it calls "header", which is what I'm talking about
here. This is a 9-element vector, basically, with each header (ouch)
be put in there.
@node Ranges
-@section Ranges
+@subsection Ranges
@sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
@node Group Info
-@section Group Info
+@subsection Group Info
Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
in pseudo-BNF.
+@node Emacs for Heathens
+@section Emacs for Heathens
+
+Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
+Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
+If you are one of those unfortunates whom "@kbd{M-C-a}", "kill the
+region", and "set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key is
+a regexp that is used for matching on the group name" are magical
+phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
+you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
+cat instead.
+
+@menu
+* Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
+* Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
+@end menu
+
+
+@node Keystrokes
+@subsection Keystrokes
+
+@itemize @bullet
+@item
+Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
+@item
+A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
+@end itemize
+
+Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
+key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
+(notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
+of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
+"Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift", and not "Editin Macros", as you may
+have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
+
+The shift key is normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
+normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
+the time. The control key is normally marked "CTRL" or something like
+that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
+keyboards. The one I'm curretly at has a key that's marked "Alt", which
+is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere to the
+left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
+
+Now, us Emacs people doesn't say "press the meta-control-m key", because
+that's just too inconvenient. We say "press the @kbd{M-C-m} key".
+@kbd{M-} is the prefix that means "meta" and "C-" is the prefix that
+means "control". So "press @kbd{C-k}" means "press down the control
+key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}". "Press @kbd{M-C-k}"
+means "press down and hold down the meta key and the control key and
+then press @kbd{k}". Simple, ay?
+
+This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
+meta key. In that case you can use the "escape" key. Then @kbd{M-k}
+means "press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}". That's much more
+work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
+suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
+it.
+
+
+
+@node Emacs Lisp
+@subsection Emacs Lisp
+
+Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
+Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
+Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
+any key to run any random code. You just, like, do it.
+
+Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
+functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
+interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
+certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
+(Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
+beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
+some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
+to customize Gnus.
+
+If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
+write the following:
+
+@lisp
+(setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
+@end lisp
+
+This function (really "special form") @code{setq} is the one that can
+set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
+you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
+how Gnus works.
+
+If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
+and @code{eval}ed (which is lispese for "run") the next time you start
+Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
+@kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
+previous "form", which here is a simple @code{setq} statement.
+
+Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
+@kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
+is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
+
+Some pitfalls:
+
+If the manual says "set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}",
+that means:
+
+@lisp
+(setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
+@end lisp
+
+On the other hand, if the manual says "set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
+@samp{"nntp.ifi.uio.no"}", that means:
+
+@lisp
+(setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
+@end lisp
+
+So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
+former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
+
+
+
+@node Frequently Asked Questions
+@section Frequently Asked Questions
+
+
+
@node Index
@chapter Index
@printindex cp
projects / gnus / blobdiff