* Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
* Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
* Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
+* Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
* Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
* Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
* Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
Agent Commands
-* Group Agent Commands::
-* Summary Agent Commands::
-* Server Agent Commands::
+* Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
+* Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
+* Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
Scoring
@item gnus-select-article-hook
@vindex gnus-select-article-hook
This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
-exposes any threads hidden under the selected article. If you wish
-that the Agent saves all articles you read, putting
-@code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this hook should do it.
+exposes any threads hidden under the selected article. If you would
+like each article to be saved in the Agent as you read it, putting
+@code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this hook will do so.
@item gnus-mark-article-hook
@vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
+@item
+@vindex gnus-downloaded-mark
+When using the Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics}, articles may be
+downloaded for unplugged (offline) viewing. If you are using the
+@samp{%O} spec, these articles get the @samp{+} mark in that spec.
+(The variable @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} controls which character to
+use.)
+
@item
@vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
-When using the Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics}, some articles might not
-have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you are
-offline (unplugged). These articles get the @samp{@@} mark in the
-first column. (The variable @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls
-which character to use.)
+When using the Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics}, some articles might
+not have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you
+are unplugged (offline). If you are using the @samp{%O} spec, these
+articles get the @samp{-} mark in that spec. (The variable
+@code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls which character to use.)
@item
@vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
* Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
* Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
* Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
+* Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
* Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
* Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
* Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
@menu
-* Group Agent Commands::
-* Summary Agent Commands::
-* Server Agent Commands::
+* Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
+* Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
+* Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
@end menu
@item J c
@kindex J c (Agent Summary)
@findex gnus-agent-catchup
-Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
+Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
+
+@item J S
+@kindex J S (Agent Summary)
+@findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
+Download all eligible (See @pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
+(@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
+
+@item J s
+@kindex J s (Agent Summary)
+@findex gnus-agent-fetch-series
+Download all processable articles in this group.
+(@code{gnus-agent-fetch-series}).
@item J u
@kindex J u (Agent Summary)
particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
+Note that other functions, e.g. @code{gnus-request-expire-articles},
+might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you to keep the agent
+synchronized with the group.
+
@code{gnus-agent-expire-days} can also be a list of regexp/day pairs.
The regexps will be matched against group names to allow differing
expiry in different groups.
@end lisp
If you use the list form, the last element must always be the default
-method---it must always match all groups.
+method---it must always match all groups. Also, for a regexp to match,
+it must match from the beginning of the group's name.
@vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
(which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
-@findex gnus-agent-regenerate
If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's a special
-@code{gnus-agent-regenerate} command to fix possible problems.
+@pxref{gnus-agent-regenerate} command to fix possible problems.
+
+@node Agent Regeneration
+@subsection Agent Regeneration
+
+@cindex Agent Regeneration
+@cindex Gnus Agent Regeneration
+@cindex regeneration
+
+The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
+due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
+@code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
+to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
+internal inconsistencies.
+
+For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
+downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
+know about articles downloaded prior to the connection failure.
+Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
+@code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
+such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
+
+@findex gnus-agent-regenerate
+@kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
+The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
+@code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
+you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
+recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
+
+@findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
+@kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
+The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
+of individual articles to repair the local NOV(header) database. It
+then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
+are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
+agent as unread.
@node Agent and IMAP
@subsection Agent and IMAP
-The Agent work with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
+The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
since there are some conceptual differences between @sc{nntp} and
@sc{imap}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @sc{imap} Disconnected Mode client.
other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
online status.
+@item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
+@vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
+If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
+mark articles as unread after downloading. The default is t.
+
+@item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
+@vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
+If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
+agent will fetch all missing headers. When @code{nil}, the agent will
+fetch only new headers. The default is @code{nil}.
+
+@item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
+@vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
+The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
+them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
+the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
+have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
+limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
+performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
+connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
+@pxref{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
+However, all articles parsed prior to loosing the connection will be
+available while unplugged).
+
@item gnus-server-unopen-status
@vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
Perhaps not a Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
@end table
In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
-articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP and also uses the
+articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
locally stored articles.