10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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282 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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291 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
292 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
295 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
296 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
297 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
298 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
299 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
300 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
301 License'' in the Emacs manual.
303 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
304 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
305 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
307 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
308 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
309 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
310 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
318 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
320 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
321 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
323 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
324 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
325 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
326 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
327 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
328 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
329 License'' in the Emacs manual.
331 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
332 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
333 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
335 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
336 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
337 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
338 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
346 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
349 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
350 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
351 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
353 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
354 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
355 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
356 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
357 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
358 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
359 License'' in the Emacs manual.
361 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
362 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
363 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
365 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
366 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
367 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
368 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
377 @top The Gnus Newsreader
381 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
382 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
383 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
386 This manual corresponds to Oort Gnus v0.07.
397 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
398 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
400 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
401 being accused of plagiarism:
403 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
404 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
405 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
406 can even read news with it!
408 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
409 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
410 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
411 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
412 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
418 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
419 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
420 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
421 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
422 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
423 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
424 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
425 * Various:: General purpose settings.
426 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
427 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
428 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
429 * Key Index:: Key Index.
432 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
436 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
437 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
438 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
439 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
440 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
441 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
442 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
443 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
444 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
445 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
446 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
450 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
451 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
452 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
456 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
457 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
458 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
459 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
460 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
461 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
462 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
463 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
464 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
465 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
466 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
467 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
468 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
469 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
470 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
471 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
472 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
476 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
477 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
478 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
482 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
483 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
484 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
485 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
486 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
490 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
491 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
492 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
493 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
494 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
498 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
499 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
500 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
501 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
502 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
503 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
504 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
505 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
506 * Threading:: How threads are made.
507 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
508 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
509 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
510 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
511 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
512 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
513 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
514 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
515 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
516 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
517 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
518 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
519 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
520 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
521 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
522 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
523 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
524 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
525 or reselecting the current group.
526 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
527 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
528 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
529 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
531 Summary Buffer Format
533 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
534 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
535 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
536 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
540 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
541 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
543 Reply, Followup and Post
545 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
546 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
547 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
548 * Canceling and Superseding::
552 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
553 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
554 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
556 * Generic Marking Commands::
557 * Setting Process Marks::
561 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
562 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
563 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
567 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
568 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
570 Customizing Threading
572 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
573 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
574 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
575 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
579 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
580 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
581 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
582 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
583 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
584 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
588 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
589 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
590 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
594 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
595 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
596 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
597 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
598 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
599 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
600 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
601 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
602 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
603 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
605 Alternative Approaches
607 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
608 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
610 Various Summary Stuff
612 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
613 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
614 * Summary Generation Commands::
615 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
619 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
620 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
621 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
622 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
623 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
627 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
628 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
629 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
630 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
631 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
632 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
633 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
634 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
638 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
639 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
640 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
641 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
642 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
643 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
644 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
645 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
649 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
650 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
651 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
652 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
653 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
654 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
655 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
659 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
660 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
664 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
665 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
666 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
670 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
671 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
672 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
673 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
674 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
675 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
676 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
677 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
678 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
679 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
680 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
681 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
682 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
686 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
687 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
688 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
690 Choosing a Mail Back End
692 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
693 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
694 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
695 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
696 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
697 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
702 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
703 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
704 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
705 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
706 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
707 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
711 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
712 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
713 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
714 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
715 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use IMAP namespace in Gnus.
719 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
720 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
721 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
722 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
723 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
727 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
731 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
732 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
733 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
737 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
738 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
742 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
743 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
744 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
745 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
746 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
747 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
748 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
749 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
750 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
751 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
752 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
756 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
757 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
758 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
762 * Group Agent Commands::
763 * Summary Agent Commands::
764 * Server Agent Commands::
768 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
769 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
770 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
771 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
772 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
773 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
774 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
775 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
776 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
777 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
778 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
779 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
780 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
781 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
782 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
783 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
784 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
788 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
789 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
790 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
791 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
795 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
796 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
797 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
801 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
802 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
803 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
804 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
805 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
806 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
807 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
808 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
809 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
810 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
811 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
812 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
813 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
814 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
815 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
816 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
817 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
818 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
819 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
823 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
824 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
825 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
826 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
827 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
828 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
829 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
830 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
834 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
835 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
836 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
837 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
838 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
842 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
843 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
844 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
845 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
846 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
850 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
851 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
852 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
853 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
854 * Filtering Spam Using spam.el::
855 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics (spam-stat.el)::
859 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
860 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
861 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
862 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
863 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
864 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
865 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
866 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
867 * Frequently Asked Questions::
871 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
872 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
873 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
874 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
875 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
876 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
877 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
878 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
879 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
883 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
884 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
885 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
886 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
887 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
891 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
892 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
893 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
894 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
898 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
899 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
900 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
901 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
902 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
903 * Group Info:: The group info format.
904 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
905 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
906 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
910 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
911 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
912 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
913 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
914 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
915 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
919 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
920 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
924 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
925 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
931 @chapter Starting Gnus
936 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
937 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
940 @findex gnus-other-frame
941 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
942 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
943 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
945 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
946 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
947 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
949 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
950 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
953 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
954 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
955 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
956 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
957 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
958 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
959 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
960 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
961 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
962 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
963 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
967 @node Finding the News
968 @section Finding the News
971 @vindex gnus-select-method
973 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
974 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
975 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
976 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
979 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
980 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
983 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
986 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
989 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
992 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
993 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
994 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
996 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
998 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
999 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
1000 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1001 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1002 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
1003 that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
1005 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1006 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1007 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1008 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1010 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1011 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1012 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1013 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1014 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
1015 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1016 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1017 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1018 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1021 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1023 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
1024 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1025 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1026 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1027 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1028 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1030 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1032 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1033 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1034 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1035 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1036 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1037 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1040 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1041 you would typically set this variable to
1044 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1048 @node The First Time
1049 @section The First Time
1050 @cindex first time usage
1052 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
1053 be subscribed by default.
1055 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1056 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
1057 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1058 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1061 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1062 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1063 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1065 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1066 help you with most common problems.
1068 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1069 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1073 @node The Server is Down
1074 @section The Server is Down
1075 @cindex server errors
1077 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1078 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1079 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1081 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1082 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1083 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1084 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1085 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1086 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1087 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1089 @findex gnus-no-server
1090 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1092 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1093 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1094 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1095 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1096 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1097 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1098 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1102 @section Slave Gnusae
1105 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1106 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1107 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1108 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1110 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1111 @code{.newsrc} file.
1113 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1114 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1115 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1116 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1117 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1118 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1119 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1121 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1122 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1123 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1124 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1125 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1126 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1127 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1128 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1130 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1131 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
1133 If the @code{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1134 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1135 file. If you answer "yes", the unsaved changes to the master will be
1136 incorporated into the slave. If you answer "no", the slave may see some
1137 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1139 @node Fetching a Group
1140 @section Fetching a Group
1141 @cindex fetching a group
1143 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1144 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1145 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
1146 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1147 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1148 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1154 @cindex subscription
1156 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1157 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1158 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1159 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1160 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1161 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1162 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1163 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1164 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1167 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1168 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1169 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1173 @node Checking New Groups
1174 @subsection Checking New Groups
1176 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1177 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1178 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1179 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1180 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1181 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1182 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1183 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1184 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1185 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1187 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1188 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1189 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1190 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1191 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1192 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1193 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1194 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1195 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1196 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1197 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1199 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1200 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1201 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1202 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1203 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1204 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1207 @node Subscription Methods
1208 @subsection Subscription Methods
1210 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1211 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1212 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1214 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1215 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1217 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1221 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1222 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1223 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1224 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1225 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1227 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1228 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1229 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1230 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1232 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1233 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1234 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1236 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1237 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1238 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1239 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1240 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1241 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1242 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1243 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1244 up. Or something like that.
1246 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1247 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1248 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1249 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1250 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1252 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1253 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1254 Kill all new groups.
1256 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1257 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1258 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1259 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1260 topic parameter that looks like
1266 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1269 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1274 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1275 A closely related variable is
1276 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1277 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1278 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1279 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1282 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1283 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1284 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1285 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1288 @node Filtering New Groups
1289 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1291 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1292 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1293 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1296 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1299 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1300 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1301 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1302 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1303 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1304 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1305 subscribing these groups.
1306 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1307 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1309 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1310 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1311 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1312 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1313 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1314 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1315 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1316 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1318 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1319 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1320 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1321 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1322 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1323 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1324 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1325 that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1326 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1327 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1330 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1331 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1334 @node Changing Servers
1335 @section Changing Servers
1336 @cindex changing servers
1338 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1339 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1340 very flaky and you want to use another.
1342 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1343 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1347 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1348 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1349 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1350 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1353 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1354 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1355 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1356 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1358 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1359 @findex gnus-change-server
1360 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1361 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1362 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1363 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1364 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1366 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1367 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1368 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1369 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1370 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1372 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1373 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1374 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1375 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1376 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1377 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1379 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1380 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1381 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1382 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1384 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1385 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1386 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1387 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1388 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1389 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1390 cache for all groups).
1394 @section Startup Files
1395 @cindex startup files
1400 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1401 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1403 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1404 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1405 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1406 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1407 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1408 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1409 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1411 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1412 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1413 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1414 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1415 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1416 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1418 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1419 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1420 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1421 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1422 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1423 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1424 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1425 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1426 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1427 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1429 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1430 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1431 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1432 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1433 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1434 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1435 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1436 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1437 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1438 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1439 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1440 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1442 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1443 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1444 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1445 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1447 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1448 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1449 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1450 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1451 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1452 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1453 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1454 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1455 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1456 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1459 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1460 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1462 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1463 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1466 @vindex gnus-init-file
1467 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1468 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1469 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1470 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1471 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1472 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1473 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1474 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1475 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1481 @cindex dribble file
1484 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1485 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1486 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1487 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1488 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1491 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1492 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1495 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1496 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1497 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1499 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1500 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1501 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1502 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1503 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1504 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
1506 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1507 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1508 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1511 @node The Active File
1512 @section The Active File
1514 @cindex ignored groups
1516 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1517 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1518 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1520 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1521 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1522 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1523 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1524 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1525 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1526 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1529 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1530 @c if you set it to anything else.
1532 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1534 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1535 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1536 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1538 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1539 you actually subscribe to.
1541 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1542 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1543 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1544 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1546 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1547 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1548 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1549 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1550 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1551 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1553 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1554 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1555 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1558 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1559 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1560 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1561 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1562 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1563 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1565 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1566 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1568 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1569 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1571 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1572 secondary select methods.
1575 @node Startup Variables
1576 @section Startup Variables
1580 @item gnus-load-hook
1581 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1582 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1583 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1584 times you start Gnus.
1586 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1587 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1588 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1590 @item gnus-startup-hook
1591 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1592 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1594 @item gnus-started-hook
1595 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1596 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1599 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1600 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1601 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1602 generating the group buffer.
1604 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1605 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1606 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1607 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1608 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1609 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1610 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1611 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1613 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1614 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1615 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1616 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1617 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1618 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1620 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1621 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1622 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1624 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1625 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1626 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1628 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1629 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1630 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1631 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1637 @chapter Group Buffer
1638 @cindex group buffer
1640 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1642 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1643 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1644 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1645 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1646 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1647 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1648 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1649 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1650 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1651 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1652 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1653 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1654 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1655 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1656 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1657 @c human rights at 9...
1660 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1661 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1662 long as Gnus is active.
1666 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1667 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1668 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1669 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1670 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1671 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1672 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1673 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1679 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1680 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1681 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1682 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1683 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1684 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1685 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1686 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1687 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1688 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1689 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1690 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1691 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1692 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1693 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1694 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1695 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1699 @node Group Buffer Format
1700 @section Group Buffer Format
1703 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1704 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1705 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1709 @node Group Line Specification
1710 @subsection Group Line Specification
1711 @cindex group buffer format
1713 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1714 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1716 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1719 25: news.announce.newusers
1720 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1725 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1726 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1727 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1728 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1730 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1731 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1732 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1733 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1734 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1735 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1737 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1739 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1740 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1741 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1742 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1743 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1745 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1746 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1747 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1749 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1754 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1757 Whether the group is subscribed.
1760 Level of subscribedness.
1763 Number of unread articles.
1766 Number of dormant articles.
1769 Number of ticked articles.
1772 Number of read articles.
1775 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1776 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1778 Gnus uses this estimation because the @sc{nntp} protocol provides
1779 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1780 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1781 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1782 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1783 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1784 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1785 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1788 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1791 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1800 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1801 comment element in the group parameters.
1804 Newsgroup description.
1807 @samp{m} if moderated.
1810 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1819 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1823 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1826 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1827 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1828 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1829 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1830 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1833 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1835 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1839 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1842 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1846 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1847 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1848 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1849 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1850 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1851 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1856 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1857 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1858 group, or a bogus native group.
1861 @node Group Modeline Specification
1862 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1863 @cindex group modeline
1865 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1866 The mode line can be changed by setting
1867 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1868 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1872 The native news server.
1874 The native select method.
1878 @node Group Highlighting
1879 @subsection Group Highlighting
1880 @cindex highlighting
1881 @cindex group highlighting
1883 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1884 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1885 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1886 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1887 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1889 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1893 (cond (window-system
1894 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1895 (defface my-group-face-1
1896 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1897 (defface my-group-face-2
1898 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1899 (defface my-group-face-3
1900 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1901 (defface my-group-face-4
1902 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1903 (defface my-group-face-5
1904 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1906 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1907 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1908 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1909 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1910 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1911 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1914 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1916 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1923 The number of unread articles in the group.
1927 Whether the group is a mail group.
1929 The level of the group.
1931 The score of the group.
1933 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1935 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1936 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1938 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1939 topic being inserted.
1942 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1943 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1944 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1946 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1947 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1948 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1949 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1950 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1953 @node Group Maneuvering
1954 @section Group Maneuvering
1955 @cindex group movement
1957 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1958 expected, hopefully.
1964 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1965 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1966 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1972 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1973 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1974 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1978 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1979 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1983 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1984 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1988 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1989 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1990 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1994 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1995 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1996 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1999 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2005 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2006 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2007 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2012 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2013 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2014 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2018 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2019 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2020 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2023 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2024 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2025 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2026 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2030 @node Selecting a Group
2031 @section Selecting a Group
2032 @cindex group selection
2037 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2038 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2039 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2040 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2041 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2042 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2043 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
2044 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
2045 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
2046 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
2048 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2049 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2050 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2052 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2053 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2058 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2059 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2060 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2061 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2062 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2066 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2067 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2068 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2069 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2070 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2071 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2072 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2073 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2074 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2075 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2078 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2079 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2080 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2081 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2082 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2085 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2086 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2087 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2088 doing any processing of its contents
2089 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2090 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2091 manner will have no permanent effects.
2095 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2096 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
2097 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
2098 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2099 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
2100 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
2101 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
2102 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
2105 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2106 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2107 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2108 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2109 Which article this is is controlled by the
2110 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2116 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2119 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2122 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2124 @item unseen-or-unread
2125 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2126 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2130 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2134 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2135 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2137 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2138 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2139 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2140 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2144 @node Subscription Commands
2145 @section Subscription Commands
2146 @cindex subscription
2154 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2155 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2156 Toggle subscription to the current group
2157 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2163 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2164 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2165 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2166 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2172 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2173 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2174 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2180 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2181 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2184 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2185 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2186 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2187 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2188 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2194 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2195 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2199 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2200 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2203 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2204 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2205 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2206 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2207 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2208 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2209 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2210 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2211 @file{.newsrc} file.
2215 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2225 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2226 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2227 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2228 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2229 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2230 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2235 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2236 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2237 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2241 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2242 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2243 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2245 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2246 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2247 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2248 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2249 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2250 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2257 @section Group Levels
2261 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2262 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2263 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2264 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2265 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2267 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2273 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2274 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2275 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2276 prompted for a level.
2279 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2280 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2281 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2282 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2283 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2284 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2285 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2286 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2287 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2288 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2289 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2290 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2291 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2292 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2293 reasons of efficiency.
2295 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2296 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2298 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2299 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2300 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2301 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2302 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2303 groups are hidden, in a way.
2305 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2306 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2307 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2308 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2309 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2310 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2312 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2313 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2314 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2315 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2316 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2317 list of killed groups.)
2319 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2320 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2321 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2323 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2324 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2325 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2326 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2327 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2328 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2329 relevant valid ranges.
2331 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2332 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2333 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2334 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2335 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2336 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2339 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2340 one with the best level.
2342 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2343 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2344 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2347 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2348 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2349 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2350 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2353 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2354 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2355 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2356 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2358 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2359 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2360 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2361 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2362 to 5. The default is 6.
2366 @section Group Score
2371 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2372 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2373 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2376 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2377 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2378 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2379 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2380 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2381 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2382 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2383 least significant part.))
2385 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2386 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2387 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2388 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2389 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2390 action after each summary exit, you can add
2391 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2392 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2393 slow things down somewhat.
2396 @node Marking Groups
2397 @section Marking Groups
2398 @cindex marking groups
2400 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2401 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2402 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2403 bidding on those groups.
2405 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2406 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2407 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2415 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2416 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2422 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2423 Remove the mark from the current group
2424 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2428 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2429 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2433 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2434 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2438 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2439 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2443 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2444 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2445 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2448 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2450 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2451 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2452 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2453 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2454 the command to be executed.
2457 @node Foreign Groups
2458 @section Foreign Groups
2459 @cindex foreign groups
2461 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2462 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2463 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2464 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2471 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2472 @cindex making groups
2473 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2474 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2475 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2479 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2480 @cindex renaming groups
2481 Rename the current group to something else
2482 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2483 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2489 @findex gnus-group-customize
2490 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2494 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2495 @cindex renaming groups
2496 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2497 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2501 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2502 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2503 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2507 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2508 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2509 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2513 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2515 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2516 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2521 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2522 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2526 @cindex (ding) archive
2527 @cindex archive group
2528 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2529 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2530 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2531 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2532 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2533 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2534 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2538 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2540 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2541 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2542 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2543 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2547 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2549 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2550 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2551 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2555 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2556 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2558 Make a group based on some file or other
2559 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2560 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2561 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2562 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2563 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2564 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2565 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2566 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2567 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2571 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2572 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2573 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2574 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2578 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2582 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2583 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2584 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2585 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2586 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2587 @xref{Web Searches}.
2589 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2590 to a particular group by using a match string like
2591 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2594 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2595 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2596 This function will delete the current group
2597 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2598 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2599 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2600 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2601 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2605 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2606 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2607 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2611 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2612 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2613 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2616 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2619 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2620 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2621 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2622 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2623 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2624 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2628 @node Group Parameters
2629 @section Group Parameters
2630 @cindex group parameters
2632 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2633 Here's an example group parameter list:
2636 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2640 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2641 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2642 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2643 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2645 Some parameters have correspondant customizable variables, each of which
2646 is an alist of regexps and values.
2648 The following group parameters can be used:
2653 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2656 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2659 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2660 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2661 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2662 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2663 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2665 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2666 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2667 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2668 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2669 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2670 list address instead.
2672 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2676 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2679 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2682 It is totally ignored
2683 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2684 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2686 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2687 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2688 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2689 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2690 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2692 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2693 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2694 sending the message.
2696 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2697 @cindex Mail List Groups
2698 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2699 entering summary buffer.
2701 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2706 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2707 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2708 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2709 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2710 headers for your posts to these lists. Look here @pxref{(message)Mailing
2711 Lists} for a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2713 See also @code{gnus-find-subscribed-addresses}, the function that
2714 directly uses this group parameter.
2718 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2719 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2720 of whether it has any unread articles.
2722 @item broken-reply-to
2723 @cindex broken-reply-to
2724 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2725 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2726 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2727 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2728 broken behavior. So there!
2732 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2733 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2737 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2738 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2739 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2744 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2745 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2746 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2747 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2748 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2749 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2750 (@pxref{Archived Messages}). CAVEAT:: It yields an error putting
2751 @code{(gcc-self . t)} in groups of a @code{nntp} server or so, because
2752 a @code{nntp} server doesn't accept artciles.
2756 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2757 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2758 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2760 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2763 @cindex total-expire
2764 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2765 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2766 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2767 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2770 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2774 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2775 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2776 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2777 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2778 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2779 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2780 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2783 @cindex score file group parameter
2784 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2785 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2786 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2789 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2790 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2791 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2792 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2795 @cindex admin-address
2796 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2797 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2798 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2799 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2803 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2804 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2808 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2811 Display the last INTEGER articles in the group. This is the same as
2812 entering the group with C-u INTEGER.
2815 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2819 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2821 Here are some examples:
2825 Display only unread articles.
2828 Display everything except expirable articles.
2830 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2831 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2835 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2836 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2837 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2838 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2839 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2843 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2844 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2845 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2849 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2850 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2851 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2855 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2856 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2857 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2859 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2861 @item ignored-charsets
2862 @cindex ignored-charset
2863 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2864 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2865 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2867 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2870 @cindex posting-style
2871 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2872 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2873 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2874 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2875 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2877 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2878 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2879 like this in the group parameters:
2884 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2889 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2890 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2894 An item like @code{(banner . "regex")} causes any part of an article
2895 that matches the regular expression "regex" to be stripped. Instead of
2896 "regex", you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2897 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2898 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2902 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2903 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2904 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2905 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2907 For example, if the INBOX.list.sieve group has the @code{(sieve
2908 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2909 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2910 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
2913 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
2914 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
2918 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, , Top, sieve,
2921 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2922 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2923 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2924 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2925 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2926 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2927 @code{eval}ed there.
2929 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
2930 A use for this feature, is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
2931 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
2932 @samp{nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps} has the tag
2933 @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this tag can be
2934 removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for the group by
2935 putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")} into the group
2936 parameters for the group.
2939 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2940 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2941 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2942 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2943 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2947 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2948 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2949 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2950 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2951 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2953 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
2954 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
2958 (setq gnus-parameters
2960 (gnus-show-threads nil)
2961 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
2962 (gnus-summary-line-format
2963 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
2967 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
2971 (gnus-use-scoring t))
2975 (broken-reply-to . t))))
2978 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
2979 the @code{to-group} example shows.
2982 @node Listing Groups
2983 @section Listing Groups
2984 @cindex group listing
2986 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2994 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2995 List all groups that have unread articles
2996 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2997 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2998 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2999 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3006 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3007 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3008 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3009 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3010 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3011 unsubscribed groups).
3015 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3016 List all unread groups on a specific level
3017 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3018 with no unread articles.
3022 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3023 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3024 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3025 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3030 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3031 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3035 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3036 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3037 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3041 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3042 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3046 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3047 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3048 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3049 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3050 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3051 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3052 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3053 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3057 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3058 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3059 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3063 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3064 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3065 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3069 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3070 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3074 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3075 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3079 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3080 List groups limited within the current selection
3081 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3085 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3086 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3090 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3091 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3095 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3096 @cindex visible group parameter
3097 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3098 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3099 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3100 get the same effect.
3102 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3103 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3104 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3105 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3106 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3109 @node Sorting Groups
3110 @section Sorting Groups
3111 @cindex sorting groups
3113 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3114 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3115 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3116 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3117 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3118 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3123 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3124 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3125 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3127 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3128 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3129 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3131 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3132 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3133 Sort by group level.
3135 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3136 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3137 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3139 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3140 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3141 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3142 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3144 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3145 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3146 Sort by number of unread articles.
3148 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3149 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3150 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3152 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3153 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3154 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3159 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3160 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3164 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3165 some sorting criteria:
3169 @kindex G S a (Group)
3170 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3171 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3172 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3175 @kindex G S u (Group)
3176 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3177 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3178 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3181 @kindex G S l (Group)
3182 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3183 Sort the group buffer by group level
3184 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3187 @kindex G S v (Group)
3188 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3189 Sort the group buffer by group score
3190 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3193 @kindex G S r (Group)
3194 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3195 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3196 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3199 @kindex G S m (Group)
3200 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3201 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name
3202 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3206 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3207 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3209 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3210 commands will sort in reverse order.
3212 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3216 @kindex G P a (Group)
3217 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3218 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3219 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3222 @kindex G P u (Group)
3223 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3224 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3225 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3228 @kindex G P l (Group)
3229 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3230 Sort the groups by group level
3231 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3234 @kindex G P v (Group)
3235 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3236 Sort the groups by group score
3237 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3240 @kindex G P r (Group)
3241 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3242 Sort the groups by group rank
3243 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3246 @kindex G P m (Group)
3247 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3248 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name
3249 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3252 @kindex G P s (Group)
3253 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3254 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3258 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3262 @node Group Maintenance
3263 @section Group Maintenance
3264 @cindex bogus groups
3269 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3270 Find bogus groups and delete them
3271 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3275 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3276 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3277 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3278 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3279 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3283 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3284 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3285 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3286 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3287 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3288 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3291 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3292 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3293 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3294 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3299 @node Browse Foreign Server
3300 @section Browse Foreign Server
3301 @cindex foreign servers
3302 @cindex browsing servers
3307 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3308 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3309 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3310 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3313 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3314 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3315 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3316 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3318 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3323 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3324 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3328 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3329 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3332 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3333 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3334 Enter the current group and display the first article
3335 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3338 @kindex RET (Browse)
3339 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3340 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3344 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3345 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3346 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3352 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3353 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3357 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3358 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3362 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3363 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3364 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3369 @section Exiting Gnus
3370 @cindex exiting Gnus
3372 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3377 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3378 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3379 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3380 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3384 @findex gnus-group-exit
3385 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3386 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3390 @findex gnus-group-quit
3391 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3392 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3395 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3396 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3397 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3398 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3399 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3404 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3405 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3406 trying to customize meta-variables.
3411 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3412 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3413 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3419 @section Group Topics
3422 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3423 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3424 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3425 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3426 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3427 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3431 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3432 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3443 2: alt.religion.emacs
3446 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3448 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3449 13: comp.sources.unix
3452 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3454 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3455 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3456 is a toggling command.)
3458 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3459 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and
3460 now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
3461 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
3464 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3465 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3466 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3469 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3473 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3474 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3475 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3476 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3477 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3481 @node Topic Commands
3482 @subsection Topic Commands
3483 @cindex topic commands
3485 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3486 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3487 definitions slightly.
3489 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3490 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3491 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3492 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3493 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3494 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3496 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3503 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3504 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3505 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3509 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3511 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3512 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3513 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3514 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3517 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3518 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3519 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3520 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3524 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3525 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3526 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3527 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3533 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3534 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3535 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3539 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3540 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3541 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3544 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3545 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the `cut' part of cut and paste. Then,
3546 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the `Gnus'
3547 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the `paste' part of cut and
3548 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3550 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3551 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3555 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3556 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3563 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3565 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3566 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3567 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3568 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3569 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3570 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3574 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3580 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3581 Move the current group to some other topic
3582 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3583 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3587 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3588 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3592 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3593 Copy the current group to some other topic
3594 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3595 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3599 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3600 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3601 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3605 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3606 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3607 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3611 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3612 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3613 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3614 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3615 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3616 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3617 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3620 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3621 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3625 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3626 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3627 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3631 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3632 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3633 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3637 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3638 Toggle hiding empty topics
3639 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3643 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3644 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3645 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
3648 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3649 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3650 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3651 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
3654 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3655 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3656 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3657 expiry process (if any)
3658 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3662 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3663 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3666 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3667 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3668 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3672 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3673 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3674 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3677 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3678 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3679 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3682 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3683 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3684 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3688 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3689 @cindex group parameters
3690 @cindex topic parameters
3692 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3693 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3698 @node Topic Variables
3699 @subsection Topic Variables
3700 @cindex topic variables
3702 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3703 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3705 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3706 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3707 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3720 Number of groups in the topic.
3722 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3724 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3727 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3728 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3729 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3732 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3733 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3735 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3736 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3737 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3741 @subsection Topic Sorting
3742 @cindex topic sorting
3744 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3750 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3751 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3752 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3753 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3756 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3757 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3758 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3759 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3762 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3763 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3764 Sort the current topic by group level
3765 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3768 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3769 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3770 Sort the current topic by group score
3771 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3774 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3775 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3776 Sort the current topic by group rank
3777 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3780 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3781 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3782 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3783 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3786 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3787 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3788 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3789 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3793 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
3794 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
3795 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
3796 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
3800 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
3801 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
3805 @node Topic Topology
3806 @subsection Topic Topology
3807 @cindex topic topology
3810 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3816 2: alt.religion.emacs
3819 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3821 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3822 13: comp.sources.unix
3825 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3826 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3827 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3832 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3833 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3837 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3838 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3839 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3840 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3841 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3842 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3844 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3845 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3846 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3849 @node Topic Parameters
3850 @subsection Topic Parameters
3851 @cindex topic parameters
3853 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3854 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3855 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3857 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3862 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3863 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3864 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3867 @item subscribe-level
3868 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
3869 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
3870 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
3874 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3875 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3876 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3877 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3883 2: alt.religion.emacs
3887 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3889 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3890 13: comp.sources.unix
3894 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3895 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3896 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3897 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3898 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3899 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3901 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3902 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3903 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3904 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3905 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3907 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3908 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3909 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3910 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3911 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3912 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3913 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3914 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3917 @node Misc Group Stuff
3918 @section Misc Group Stuff
3921 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3922 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3923 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3924 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3925 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
3932 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3933 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3934 @xref{Server Buffer}.
3938 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3939 Start composing a message (a news by default)
3940 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
3941 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
3942 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
3943 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
3944 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3948 @findex gnus-group-mail
3949 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
3950 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
3951 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
3952 @xref{Composing Messages}.
3956 @findex gnus-group-news
3957 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
3958 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
3959 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3961 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
3962 This is useful for "posting" messages to mail groups without actually
3963 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
3964 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
3965 for this to work though.
3969 Variables for the group buffer:
3973 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3974 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3975 is called after the group buffer has been
3978 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3979 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3980 is called after the group buffer is
3981 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3984 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3985 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3986 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3987 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3989 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3990 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3991 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3992 whether they are empty or not.
3994 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3995 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3996 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
3997 non-ASCII group names.
4001 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4002 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4005 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4006 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4007 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4008 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
4009 is used to show non-ASCII group names. @code{((".*" utf-8))} is the
4010 default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the default is nil.
4014 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4015 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
4020 @node Scanning New Messages
4021 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4022 @cindex new messages
4023 @cindex scanning new news
4029 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4030 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4031 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4032 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4033 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4034 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4039 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4040 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4041 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4042 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4043 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4044 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4045 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4047 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4048 @cindex activating groups
4050 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4051 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4056 @findex gnus-group-restart
4057 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4058 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4059 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
4063 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4064 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4066 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4067 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4071 @node Group Information
4072 @subsection Group Information
4073 @cindex group information
4074 @cindex information on groups
4081 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4082 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4085 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
4086 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
4087 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
4088 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
4089 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4090 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
4091 for fetching the file.
4093 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
4094 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4098 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
4099 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
4101 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
4102 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
4105 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
4106 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
4107 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
4111 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
4112 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
4113 @cindex control message
4114 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
4115 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
4116 group if given a prefix argument.
4118 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-nil, Gnus
4119 will open the control messages in a browser using @code{browse-url}.
4120 Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp} and displayed in an
4123 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
4124 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode}
4125 (@pxref{(emacs)Compressed Files}).
4129 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4131 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4132 @cindex describing groups
4133 @cindex group description
4134 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4135 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4136 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4140 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4141 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4142 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4149 @findex gnus-version
4150 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4154 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4155 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4158 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4161 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4162 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4166 @node Group Timestamp
4167 @subsection Group Timestamp
4169 @cindex group timestamps
4171 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
4172 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4173 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4176 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4179 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4181 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4182 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4185 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4186 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4189 This will result in lines looking like:
4192 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4193 0: custom 19961002T012713
4196 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4197 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4201 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4202 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4205 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4206 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4210 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4211 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4212 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4213 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4215 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4221 @subsection File Commands
4222 @cindex file commands
4228 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4229 @vindex gnus-init-file
4230 @cindex reading init file
4231 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4232 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4236 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4237 @cindex saving .newsrc
4238 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4239 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4240 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4243 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4244 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4245 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4250 @node Sieve Commands
4251 @subsection Sieve Commands
4252 @cindex group sieve commands
4254 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4255 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4256 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4257 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4258 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4260 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4261 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4262 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4263 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4264 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4265 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4266 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4267 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4268 regenerate the Sieve script.
4270 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4271 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4272 is generated. If it is non-nil (the default) articles is placed in
4273 all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article is only
4274 placed in the group with the first matching rule. For example, the
4275 group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4276 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4277 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is nil. (When
4278 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-nil, it looks the same except that
4279 the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4282 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4283 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4288 @xref{Top, ,Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4294 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4295 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4296 @cindex generating sieve script
4297 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4298 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4302 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4303 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4304 @cindex updating sieve script
4305 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4306 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4307 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4312 @node Summary Buffer
4313 @chapter Summary Buffer
4314 @cindex summary buffer
4316 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4317 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4319 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4320 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4322 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4325 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4326 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4327 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4328 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4329 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4330 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
4331 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4332 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4333 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4334 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4335 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4336 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4337 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4338 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4339 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4340 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4341 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4342 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4343 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4344 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4345 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4346 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4347 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4348 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4349 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4350 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4351 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4352 or reselecting the current group.
4353 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4354 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4355 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4356 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4360 @node Summary Buffer Format
4361 @section Summary Buffer Format
4362 @cindex summary buffer format
4366 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4367 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4368 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4374 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4375 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4376 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4377 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4380 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4381 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4382 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4383 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4384 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4385 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
4386 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4387 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
4388 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
4389 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
4390 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
4393 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4394 'mail-extract-address-components)
4397 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4398 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4399 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4400 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4403 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4404 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4406 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4407 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4408 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4409 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4410 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4412 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4413 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4414 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4415 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4416 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4417 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4419 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
4421 The following format specification characters and extended format
4422 specification(s) are understood:
4428 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4429 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4431 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4432 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4433 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4435 Full @code{From} header.
4437 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4439 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
4442 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4443 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4444 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4445 may be more thorough.
4447 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4450 Number of lines in the article.
4452 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4453 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4455 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
4456 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
4458 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4460 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4463 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4464 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4466 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4467 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4469 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4470 for adopted articles.
4472 One space for each thread level.
4474 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4476 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4479 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4480 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4481 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4484 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4486 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4487 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4488 default level. If the difference between
4489 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4490 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4498 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4500 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4506 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4507 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4509 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4510 article has any children.
4516 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4517 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4519 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4520 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4521 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
4522 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4523 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4524 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4527 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4528 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4529 There can only be one such area.
4531 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4532 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
4533 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4534 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4535 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4536 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4538 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4539 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4541 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
4544 @node To From Newsgroups
4545 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4549 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4550 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4551 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4552 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4553 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4557 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4558 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4559 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4563 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4564 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4567 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4568 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4571 @findex gnus-extra-header
4572 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4573 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4574 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4577 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4581 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4582 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4583 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4584 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4585 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4586 headers are used instead.
4590 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4591 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4592 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
4593 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
4594 this variable, by entering the server buffer using `^', and then `g' on
4595 the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause regeneration.
4597 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4598 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4599 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4600 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4602 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4606 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4608 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4609 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4610 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4611 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4615 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
4618 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
4619 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
4622 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4623 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4624 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
4630 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4631 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4634 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4635 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4637 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4638 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4639 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4640 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4642 Here are the elements you can play with:
4648 Unprefixed group name.
4650 Current article number.
4652 Current article score.
4656 Number of unread articles in this group.
4658 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4661 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4662 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4663 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4664 and no unselected ones.
4666 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4667 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4669 Subject of the current article.
4671 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4673 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4675 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4677 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4679 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4681 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4685 @node Summary Highlighting
4686 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4690 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4691 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4692 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4693 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4694 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4696 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4697 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4698 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4699 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4701 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4702 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4703 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4704 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4706 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4707 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4708 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4709 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4710 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4711 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4714 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4715 ((> score default) . bold))
4717 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4718 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4722 @node Summary Maneuvering
4723 @section Summary Maneuvering
4724 @cindex summary movement
4726 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4727 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4729 None of these commands select articles.
4734 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4735 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4736 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4737 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4738 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4742 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4743 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4744 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4745 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4746 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4749 @kindex G g (Summary)
4750 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4751 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4752 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4755 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4756 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4757 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4758 to the group buffer.
4760 Variables related to summary movement:
4764 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4765 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4766 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4767 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
4768 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4769 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4770 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
4771 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
4772 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
4773 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
4774 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
4775 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
4776 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
4777 @pxref{Group Levels}.
4779 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4780 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4781 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4782 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4783 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4784 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4785 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4787 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4789 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4790 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4791 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4792 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4793 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4795 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4796 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4797 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4798 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4799 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4800 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4801 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4802 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4805 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4806 the given number of lines from the top.
4811 @node Choosing Articles
4812 @section Choosing Articles
4813 @cindex selecting articles
4816 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4817 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4821 @node Choosing Commands
4822 @subsection Choosing Commands
4824 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4825 and they all select and display an article.
4827 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4828 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4832 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4833 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4834 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4835 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4840 @kindex G n (Summary)
4841 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4842 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4843 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4848 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4849 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4850 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4855 @kindex G N (Summary)
4856 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4857 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4862 @kindex G P (Summary)
4863 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4864 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4867 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4868 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4869 Go to the next article with the same subject
4870 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4873 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4874 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4875 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4876 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4880 @kindex G f (Summary)
4882 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4883 Go to the first unread article
4884 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4888 @kindex G b (Summary)
4890 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4891 Go to the unread article with the highest score
4892 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
4893 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
4898 @kindex G l (Summary)
4899 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4900 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4903 @kindex G o (Summary)
4904 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
4906 @cindex article history
4907 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
4908 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
4909 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
4910 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
4911 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
4912 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
4917 @kindex G j (Summary)
4918 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
4919 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
4920 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
4925 @node Choosing Variables
4926 @subsection Choosing Variables
4928 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
4931 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4932 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4933 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
4934 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
4935 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
4936 the server and display it in the article buffer.
4938 @item gnus-select-article-hook
4939 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
4940 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
4941 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
4943 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
4944 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
4945 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
4946 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
4947 @findex gnus-unread-mark
4948 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
4949 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
4950 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
4951 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
4952 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
4953 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
4954 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
4955 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
4956 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
4961 @node Paging the Article
4962 @section Scrolling the Article
4963 @cindex article scrolling
4968 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4969 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4970 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
4971 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
4972 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4975 @kindex DEL (Summary)
4976 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
4977 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
4980 @kindex RET (Summary)
4981 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
4982 Scroll the current article one line forward
4983 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
4986 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
4987 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
4988 Scroll the current article one line backward
4989 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
4993 @kindex A g (Summary)
4995 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
4996 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4997 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
4998 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
4999 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
5000 the way it came from the server.
5002 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
5003 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
5004 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
5007 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5012 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
5017 @kindex A < (Summary)
5018 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
5019 Scroll to the beginning of the article
5020 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
5025 @kindex A > (Summary)
5026 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
5027 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
5031 @kindex A s (Summary)
5033 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
5034 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
5035 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
5039 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
5040 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
5045 @node Reply Followup and Post
5046 @section Reply, Followup and Post
5049 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
5050 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
5051 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
5052 * Canceling and Superseding::
5056 @node Summary Mail Commands
5057 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
5059 @cindex composing mail
5061 Commands for composing a mail message:
5067 @kindex S r (Summary)
5069 @findex gnus-summary-reply
5070 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
5071 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
5072 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
5073 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
5078 @kindex S R (Summary)
5079 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
5080 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
5081 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5082 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
5083 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5086 @kindex S w (Summary)
5087 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
5088 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
5089 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
5090 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5091 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
5094 @kindex S W (Summary)
5095 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
5096 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
5097 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
5098 the process/prefix convention.
5101 @kindex S v (Summary)
5102 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
5103 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
5104 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
5105 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5106 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
5107 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
5110 @kindex S V (Summary)
5111 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
5112 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
5113 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
5114 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5117 @kindex S B r (Summary)
5118 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
5119 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
5120 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
5123 @kindex S B R (Summary)
5124 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
5125 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5126 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
5127 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
5131 @kindex S o m (Summary)
5132 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
5133 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
5134 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
5135 Forward the current article to some other person
5136 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
5137 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
5138 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5139 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5140 as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5141 forward as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5142 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5143 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5144 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @sc{mime}
5150 @kindex S m (Summary)
5151 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5152 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5153 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5154 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5155 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5160 @kindex S i (Summary)
5161 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5162 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5163 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5164 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5166 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5167 This is useful for "posting" messages to mail groups without actually
5168 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5169 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5170 for this to work though.
5173 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5174 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5175 @cindex bouncing mail
5176 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5177 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5178 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5179 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5180 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5181 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
5182 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5183 very well fail, though.
5186 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5187 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5188 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5189 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5190 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5191 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5192 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5193 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5194 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5195 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5197 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5198 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5199 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5200 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5201 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
5203 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5204 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5207 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5208 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
5209 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5210 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
5211 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5214 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5215 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5216 @cindex crossposting
5217 @cindex excessive crossposting
5218 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5219 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5221 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5222 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5223 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5224 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5225 command understands the process/prefix convention
5226 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5230 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5231 Manual}, for more information.
5234 @node Summary Post Commands
5235 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5237 @cindex composing news
5239 Commands for posting a news article:
5245 @kindex S p (Summary)
5246 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5247 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5248 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5249 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5250 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5255 @kindex S f (Summary)
5256 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5257 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5258 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5262 @kindex S F (Summary)
5264 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5265 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5266 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5267 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5268 process/prefix convention.
5271 @kindex S n (Summary)
5272 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5273 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5274 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5277 @kindex S N (Summary)
5278 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5279 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5280 message through mail and include the original message
5281 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5282 the process/prefix convention.
5285 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5286 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5287 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5288 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
5289 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
5290 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
5291 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5292 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5293 as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5294 forward as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5295 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5296 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5297 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section.
5300 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5301 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
5303 @cindex making digests
5304 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5305 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
5306 process/prefix convention.
5309 @kindex S u (Summary)
5310 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5311 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5312 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5313 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5316 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5317 Manual}, for more information.
5320 @node Summary Message Commands
5321 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5325 @kindex S y (Summary)
5326 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5327 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5328 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5329 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5330 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5335 @node Canceling and Superseding
5336 @subsection Canceling Articles
5337 @cindex canceling articles
5338 @cindex superseding articles
5340 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5341 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5343 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5345 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5347 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5348 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5349 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5350 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5351 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5352 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5354 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5355 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5358 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5359 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5360 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5362 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5363 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5364 your original article.
5366 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5368 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5369 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5370 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5373 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5374 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5375 have posted almost the same article twice.
5377 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5378 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5379 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5380 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5381 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5382 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5383 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5384 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5385 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5386 canceled/superseded.
5388 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5390 @node Delayed Articles
5391 @section Delayed Articles
5392 @cindex delayed sending
5393 @cindex send delayed
5395 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5396 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5397 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5398 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5401 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5404 @findex gnus-delay-article
5405 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5406 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5407 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5408 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5412 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5413 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5414 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5415 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5418 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5419 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5420 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5423 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5424 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5425 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5426 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5427 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5428 that means a time tomorrow.
5431 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5432 couple of variables:
5435 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5436 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5437 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5438 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5440 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5441 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5442 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5443 formats described above.
5445 @item gnus-delay-group
5446 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5447 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5448 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5449 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5451 @item gnus-delay-header
5452 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5453 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5454 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5455 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5458 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5459 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5460 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5461 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5462 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5464 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5465 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5466 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5467 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5468 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5469 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5472 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5473 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5474 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5475 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
5476 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-nil,
5477 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
5478 argument is ignored.
5480 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
5481 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
5482 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
5486 @node Marking Articles
5487 @section Marking Articles
5488 @cindex article marking
5489 @cindex article ticking
5492 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5494 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5495 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5496 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5498 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5501 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5502 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5503 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5507 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
5511 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5512 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5513 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5517 @node Unread Articles
5518 @subsection Unread Articles
5520 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5525 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5526 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5528 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5529 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5530 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5531 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5532 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5533 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5534 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5537 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5538 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5540 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5541 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5542 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5543 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5547 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5548 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5550 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5555 @subsection Read Articles
5556 @cindex expirable mark
5558 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5563 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5564 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5565 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5568 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5569 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5572 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5573 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5574 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5577 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5578 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5581 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5582 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5585 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5586 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5589 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5590 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5593 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5594 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5597 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5598 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5601 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5602 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5606 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5607 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5608 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5612 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5613 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5615 One more special mark, though:
5619 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5620 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5622 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5623 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5624 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5625 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
5631 @subsection Other Marks
5632 @cindex process mark
5635 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5641 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5642 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5643 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5644 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5645 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5648 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5649 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5650 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5651 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5654 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5655 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5656 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5659 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5660 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5661 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5664 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5665 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5666 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5667 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5670 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5671 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
5672 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5673 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
5674 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
5675 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
5678 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5679 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
5680 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5681 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
5684 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
5685 When using the Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics}, some articles might not
5686 have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you are
5687 offline (unplugged). These articles get the @samp{@@} mark in the
5688 first column. (The variable @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls
5689 which character to use.)
5692 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
5693 The Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics} downloads some articles
5694 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
5695 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
5696 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
5697 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
5701 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5702 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5703 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5704 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5705 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5708 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5709 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5710 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5711 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5712 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5713 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5717 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5718 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5719 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5721 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5722 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5723 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5727 @subsection Setting Marks
5728 @cindex setting marks
5730 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5735 @kindex M c (Summary)
5736 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5737 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5738 @cindex mark as unread
5739 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5740 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5746 @kindex M t (Summary)
5747 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5748 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5749 @xref{Article Caching}.
5754 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5755 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5756 Mark the current article as dormant
5757 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5761 @kindex M d (Summary)
5763 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5764 Mark the current article as read
5765 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5769 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5770 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5771 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5776 @kindex M k (Summary)
5777 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5778 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5779 and then select the next unread article
5780 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5784 @kindex M K (Summary)
5785 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5786 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5787 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5788 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5791 @kindex M C (Summary)
5792 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5793 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5794 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5797 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5798 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5799 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5800 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5803 @kindex M H (Summary)
5804 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5805 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
5806 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5809 @kindex M h (Summary)
5810 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
5811 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
5812 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
5815 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5816 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5817 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5818 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5821 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5822 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5823 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5824 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5828 @kindex M e (Summary)
5830 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5831 Mark the current article as expirable
5832 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5835 @kindex M b (Summary)
5836 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5837 Set a bookmark in the current article
5838 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5841 @kindex M B (Summary)
5842 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5843 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5844 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5847 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5848 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5849 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5850 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5853 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5854 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5855 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5856 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5859 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5860 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5861 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5862 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5863 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5866 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5867 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5868 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5869 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5870 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5871 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5872 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5873 The default is @code{t}.
5876 @node Generic Marking Commands
5877 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5879 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5880 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5881 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5882 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5883 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5886 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
5887 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5890 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5891 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5892 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5893 to list in this manual.
5895 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
5896 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
5897 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
5898 article, you could say something like:
5901 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
5902 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5903 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
5909 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5910 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
5914 @node Setting Process Marks
5915 @subsection Setting Process Marks
5916 @cindex setting process marks
5923 @kindex M P p (Summary)
5924 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5925 Mark the current article with the process mark
5926 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
5927 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5931 @kindex M P u (Summary)
5932 @kindex M-# (Summary)
5933 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
5934 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5937 @kindex M P U (Summary)
5938 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5939 Remove the process mark from all articles
5940 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5943 @kindex M P i (Summary)
5944 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
5945 Invert the list of process marked articles
5946 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
5949 @kindex M P R (Summary)
5950 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
5951 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5952 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
5955 @kindex M P G (Summary)
5956 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
5957 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5958 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
5961 @kindex M P r (Summary)
5962 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5963 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5967 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
5968 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
5971 @kindex M P t (Summary)
5972 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5973 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5974 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5977 @kindex M P T (Summary)
5978 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5979 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5980 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5983 @kindex M P v (Summary)
5984 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
5985 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
5986 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
5989 @kindex M P s (Summary)
5990 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
5991 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5994 @kindex M P S (Summary)
5995 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
5996 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
5997 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
6000 @kindex M P a (Summary)
6001 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
6002 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6005 @kindex M P b (Summary)
6006 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6007 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
6008 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6011 @kindex M P k (Summary)
6012 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
6013 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
6014 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
6017 @kindex M P y (Summary)
6018 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
6019 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
6020 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
6023 @kindex M P w (Summary)
6024 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
6025 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
6026 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
6030 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @pxref{Searching for Articles} for how to
6031 set process marks based on article body contents.
6038 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
6039 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
6040 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
6043 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
6044 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
6045 additional articles.
6051 @kindex / / (Summary)
6052 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
6053 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
6054 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
6058 @kindex / a (Summary)
6059 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
6060 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
6061 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
6065 @kindex / x (Summary)
6066 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
6067 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
6068 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
6069 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
6074 @kindex / u (Summary)
6076 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
6077 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
6078 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
6079 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
6080 dormant articles will also be excluded.
6083 @kindex / m (Summary)
6084 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
6085 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
6086 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
6089 @kindex / t (Summary)
6090 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
6091 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
6092 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
6093 articles younger than that number of days.
6096 @kindex / n (Summary)
6097 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
6098 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
6099 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
6100 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6103 @kindex / w (Summary)
6104 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
6105 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
6106 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
6110 @kindex / . (Summary)
6111 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
6112 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
6113 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
6116 @kindex / v (Summary)
6117 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
6118 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
6119 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
6122 @kindex / p (Summary)
6123 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
6124 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
6125 group parameter predicate
6126 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). See @pxref{Group
6127 Parameters} for more on this predicate.
6131 @kindex M S (Summary)
6132 @kindex / E (Summary)
6133 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
6134 Include all expunged articles in the limit
6135 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
6138 @kindex / D (Summary)
6139 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
6140 Include all dormant articles in the limit
6141 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
6144 @kindex / * (Summary)
6145 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
6146 Include all cached articles in the limit
6147 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
6150 @kindex / d (Summary)
6151 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
6152 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
6153 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
6156 @kindex / M (Summary)
6157 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
6158 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
6161 @kindex / T (Summary)
6162 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
6163 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6166 @kindex / c (Summary)
6167 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6168 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
6169 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6172 @kindex / C (Summary)
6173 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6174 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6175 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6176 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6179 @kindex / N (Summary)
6180 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6181 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6182 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6185 @kindex / o (Summary)
6186 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6187 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6188 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6196 @cindex article threading
6198 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6199 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6200 hierarchical fashion.
6202 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6203 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6204 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6205 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6206 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6207 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6208 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
6210 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6214 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6217 A tree-like article structure.
6220 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6223 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6224 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6225 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6226 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6227 called loose threads.
6229 @item thread gathering
6230 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6232 @item sparse threads
6233 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6234 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6240 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6241 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6245 @node Customizing Threading
6246 @subsection Customizing Threading
6247 @cindex customizing threading
6250 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6251 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6252 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6253 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
6258 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6261 @cindex loose threads
6264 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6265 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6266 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6267 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6268 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6269 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6271 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
6272 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
6273 There are four possible values:
6277 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6278 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6279 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6280 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6281 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6286 @cindex adopting articles
6291 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6292 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6293 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6294 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6297 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6298 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6299 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6300 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6301 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6302 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6303 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6306 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6307 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6308 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6312 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6313 display them after one another.
6316 Don't gather loose threads.
6319 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6320 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6321 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6322 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
6323 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6324 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6325 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6326 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6327 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6328 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
6329 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6331 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6332 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
6333 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6336 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6337 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6338 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6339 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6340 simplification is used.
6342 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6343 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6344 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6345 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6347 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6349 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6355 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6356 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6357 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6358 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6363 (mapconcat 'identity
6364 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6366 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6369 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6372 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6373 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6374 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6375 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6376 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6377 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6379 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6382 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6383 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6384 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6386 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6387 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6390 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6391 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6392 Remove excessive whitespace.
6394 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6395 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6396 Remove all whitespace.
6399 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6402 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6403 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6404 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6405 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6406 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6407 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6408 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6409 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6411 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6412 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6413 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6414 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6415 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6416 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6417 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6418 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6419 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6423 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6424 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6425 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6426 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6428 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6429 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6430 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6433 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6437 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6438 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6444 @node Filling In Threads
6445 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6448 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6449 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6450 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6451 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
6452 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
6453 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
6454 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
6455 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
6456 fetching old headers only works if the back end you are using carries
6457 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
6458 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
6459 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do
6462 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6463 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6464 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6466 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6467 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6468 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6469 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6470 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6471 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6472 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
6473 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6474 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
6475 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
6476 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6477 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
6478 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6479 @code{nil} by default.
6481 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6482 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6483 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6484 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6485 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6486 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6487 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6489 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6490 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6491 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6496 @node More Threading
6497 @subsubsection More Threading
6500 @item gnus-show-threads
6501 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6502 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6503 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6504 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6505 slower and more awkward.
6507 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6508 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6509 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6512 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
6513 Avaliable predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
6514 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}).
6519 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6520 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
6521 gnus-article-unseen-p))
6524 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
6525 unread, but you get my drift.)
6528 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6529 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6530 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6531 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6532 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6533 threads are expunged.
6535 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6536 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6537 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6540 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6541 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6542 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6543 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6544 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6545 result in a new thread.
6547 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6548 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6549 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6552 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6553 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6554 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6555 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6556 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6557 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6558 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6559 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6560 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6561 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6562 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6567 @node Low-Level Threading
6568 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6572 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6573 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6574 Hook run before parsing any headers.
6576 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6577 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6578 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6579 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6580 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6581 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6582 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6583 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6584 meaningful. Here's one example:
6587 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6589 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6590 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6592 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6594 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6601 @node Thread Commands
6602 @subsection Thread Commands
6603 @cindex thread commands
6609 @kindex T k (Summary)
6610 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6611 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6612 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6613 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6614 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6619 @kindex T l (Summary)
6620 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6621 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6622 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6623 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6626 @kindex T i (Summary)
6627 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6628 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6629 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6632 @kindex T # (Summary)
6633 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6634 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6635 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6638 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6639 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6640 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6641 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6644 @kindex T T (Summary)
6645 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6646 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6649 @kindex T s (Summary)
6650 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6651 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
6652 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6655 @kindex T h (Summary)
6656 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6657 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6660 @kindex T S (Summary)
6661 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6662 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6665 @kindex T H (Summary)
6666 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6667 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6670 @kindex T t (Summary)
6671 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6672 Re-thread the current article's thread
6673 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6674 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6677 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6678 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6679 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6680 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6684 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6685 understand the numeric prefix.
6690 @kindex T n (Summary)
6692 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
6694 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6695 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6696 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6699 @kindex T p (Summary)
6701 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
6703 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6704 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6705 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6708 @kindex T d (Summary)
6709 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6710 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6713 @kindex T u (Summary)
6714 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6715 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6718 @kindex T o (Summary)
6719 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6720 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6723 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6724 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6725 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6726 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6727 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6728 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6729 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6730 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6731 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6732 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6733 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6734 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6738 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6739 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6741 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6742 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6743 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6744 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6745 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6746 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6747 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
6748 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6749 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-thread
6750 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6751 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6752 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6753 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6755 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6756 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6757 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6758 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
6759 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
6760 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
6761 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
6762 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6764 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6765 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6766 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6768 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6769 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6770 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6771 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6772 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6773 ascending article order.
6775 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6776 by number, you could do something like:
6779 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6780 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6781 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6782 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
6785 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
6786 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
6787 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
6788 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
6789 which the articles arrived.
6791 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
6795 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6797 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
6798 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
6801 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
6802 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
6803 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
6804 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
6807 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
6808 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
6809 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
6810 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
6811 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
6812 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
6813 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
6814 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
6815 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
6816 variable. It is very similar to the
6817 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
6818 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
6819 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
6820 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
6821 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
6822 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
6823 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
6825 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
6829 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
6830 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
6831 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
6836 @node Asynchronous Fetching
6837 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
6838 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
6839 @cindex article pre-fetch
6842 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
6843 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
6844 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
6845 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
6846 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
6848 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
6849 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
6851 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
6852 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
6853 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
6854 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
6855 connection is blocked.
6857 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
6858 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
6859 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
6860 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
6862 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
6863 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
6864 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
6865 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
6868 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
6871 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
6872 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
6873 happen automatically.
6875 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
6876 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
6877 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
6878 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
6879 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
6880 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
6881 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
6883 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
6884 @findex gnus-async-read-p
6885 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
6886 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
6887 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
6888 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
6889 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
6890 data structure as the only parameter.
6892 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
6895 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
6896 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
6897 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
6898 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
6901 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
6904 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
6905 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
6906 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
6908 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
6909 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
6910 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
6911 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
6915 Remove articles when they are read.
6918 Remove articles when exiting the group.
6921 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
6923 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
6924 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
6925 @c from the next group.
6928 @node Article Caching
6929 @section Article Caching
6930 @cindex article caching
6933 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
6934 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
6935 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
6936 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
6937 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
6939 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
6941 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6942 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
6943 @vindex gnus-use-cache
6944 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
6945 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
6946 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
6947 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
6948 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
6950 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
6951 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
6952 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
6953 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
6954 as dormant, and don't worry.
6956 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
6958 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
6959 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
6960 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
6961 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
6962 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
6963 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
6964 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
6965 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
6966 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
6967 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
6969 @findex gnus-jog-cache
6970 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
6971 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
6972 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
6973 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
6974 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
6975 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
6976 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
6977 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
6978 not then be downloaded by this command.
6980 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
6981 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
6982 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
6983 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
6984 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
6985 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
6987 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
6988 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
6989 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
6990 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
6991 variables, the group is not cached.
6993 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
6994 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
6995 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
6996 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
6997 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
6998 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
6999 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
7000 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
7001 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
7004 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
7005 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
7006 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
7007 where, isn't that cool?
7009 @node Persistent Articles
7010 @section Persistent Articles
7011 @cindex persistent articles
7013 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
7014 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
7015 useful in my opinion.
7017 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
7018 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
7019 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
7020 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
7021 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
7022 the expiry going on at the news server.
7024 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
7025 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
7026 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
7032 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
7033 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
7036 @kindex M-* (Summary)
7037 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
7038 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
7039 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
7043 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
7045 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
7046 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
7047 interested in persistent articles:
7050 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
7054 @node Article Backlog
7055 @section Article Backlog
7057 @cindex article backlog
7059 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
7060 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
7061 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
7062 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
7063 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
7064 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
7065 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
7066 increase memory usage some.
7068 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
7069 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
7070 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
7071 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
7072 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
7073 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
7074 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
7076 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
7079 @node Saving Articles
7080 @section Saving Articles
7081 @cindex saving articles
7083 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
7084 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
7085 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
7086 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
7087 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
7089 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
7090 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
7091 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7093 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
7094 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
7095 unwanted headers before saving the article.
7097 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
7098 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
7099 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
7100 deleted before saving.
7106 @kindex O o (Summary)
7108 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
7109 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
7110 Save the current article using the default article saver
7111 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
7114 @kindex O m (Summary)
7115 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
7116 Save the current article in mail format
7117 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7120 @kindex O r (Summary)
7121 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7122 Save the current article in rmail format
7123 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
7126 @kindex O f (Summary)
7127 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7128 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7129 Save the current article in plain file format
7130 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7133 @kindex O F (Summary)
7134 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7135 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7136 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7139 @kindex O b (Summary)
7140 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7141 Save the current article body in plain file format
7142 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7145 @kindex O h (Summary)
7146 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7147 Save the current article in mh folder format
7148 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7151 @kindex O v (Summary)
7152 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7153 Save the current article in a VM folder
7154 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7158 @kindex O p (Summary)
7160 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7161 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7162 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7165 @kindex O P (Summary)
7166 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7167 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7168 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7169 external program Muttprint (see
7170 @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/}). The program name and
7171 options to use is controlled by the variable
7172 @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}. (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7176 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7177 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7178 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7179 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7180 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7181 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7182 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7183 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7184 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7185 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7186 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7187 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7191 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7192 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7193 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
7194 functions below, or you can create your own.
7198 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7199 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7200 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7201 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7202 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
7203 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7204 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7206 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7207 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7208 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7209 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7210 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7211 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7213 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7214 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7215 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7216 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7217 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7218 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7219 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7221 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7222 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7223 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7224 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7225 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7226 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7228 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7229 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7230 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7231 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7232 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7234 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7235 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7236 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7237 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7238 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7241 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7242 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7243 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7244 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7245 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7247 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7248 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7249 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7250 reader to use this setting.
7253 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7254 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7255 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7256 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7259 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7260 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7261 available functions that generate names:
7265 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7266 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7267 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7269 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7270 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7271 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7273 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7274 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7275 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7277 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7278 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7279 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7281 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7282 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7283 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7286 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7287 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7288 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7289 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7290 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7294 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7295 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7296 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7297 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7300 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7301 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7302 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7303 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7304 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7305 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7306 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7307 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7308 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7310 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7311 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7312 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7313 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7315 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7316 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7317 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7320 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7321 lots of mail groups called things like
7322 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7323 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7324 following will do just that:
7327 (defun my-save-name (group)
7328 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7329 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7331 (setq gnus-split-methods
7332 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7337 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7338 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7339 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7340 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7341 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7342 all the files in the top level directory
7343 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7344 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7345 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7346 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7348 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7349 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7350 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7351 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7352 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7355 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7359 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
7360 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7361 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
7364 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7365 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7366 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7367 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7370 @node Decoding Articles
7371 @section Decoding Articles
7372 @cindex decoding articles
7374 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7375 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7378 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7379 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7380 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7381 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7382 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7383 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7387 @cindex article series
7388 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7389 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7390 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7391 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7392 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7394 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7395 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7396 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7398 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
7399 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7400 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7402 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7403 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7404 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7407 @node Uuencoded Articles
7408 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7410 @cindex uuencoded articles
7415 @kindex X u (Summary)
7416 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7417 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7418 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7421 @kindex X U (Summary)
7422 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7423 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7424 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7427 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7428 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7429 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7432 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7433 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7434 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7435 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7439 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7440 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7441 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7442 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7443 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7445 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7446 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7447 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7448 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7451 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7452 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7453 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7454 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7455 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7456 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7460 @node Shell Archives
7461 @subsection Shell Archives
7463 @cindex shell archives
7464 @cindex shared articles
7466 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7467 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7468 some commands to deal with these:
7473 @kindex X s (Summary)
7474 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7475 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7478 @kindex X S (Summary)
7479 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7480 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7483 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7484 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7485 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7488 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7489 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7490 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7491 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7495 @node PostScript Files
7496 @subsection PostScript Files
7502 @kindex X p (Summary)
7503 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7504 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7507 @kindex X P (Summary)
7508 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7509 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7510 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7513 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7514 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7515 View the current PostScript series
7516 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7519 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7520 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7521 View and save the current PostScript series
7522 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7527 @subsection Other Files
7531 @kindex X o (Summary)
7532 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7533 Save the current series
7534 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7537 @kindex X b (Summary)
7538 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7539 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7540 doesn't really work yet.
7544 @node Decoding Variables
7545 @subsection Decoding Variables
7547 Adjective, not verb.
7550 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7551 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7552 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7556 @node Rule Variables
7557 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7558 @cindex rule variables
7560 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7561 variables are of the form
7564 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7571 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7572 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7574 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7575 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
7578 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7579 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7582 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7583 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7584 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7585 user and default view rules.
7587 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7588 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7589 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7594 @node Other Decode Variables
7595 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7598 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7600 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7601 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7602 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7603 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7604 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7608 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7609 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7612 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7613 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7614 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7617 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7618 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7619 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7620 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7621 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7624 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7625 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7626 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7628 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7629 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7630 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7631 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7632 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
7635 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7636 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7637 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7639 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7640 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7641 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7642 looking for files to display.
7644 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7645 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7646 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7649 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7650 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7651 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7654 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7655 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7656 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7659 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7660 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7661 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7664 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7665 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7666 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7667 decoded articles as unread.
7669 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7670 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7671 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7672 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7674 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7675 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7676 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7678 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7679 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7681 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7682 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
7683 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7684 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7686 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7687 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7688 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7689 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7690 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7691 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7692 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7693 simply dropped them.
7698 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7699 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7703 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7704 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7705 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7706 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7707 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7708 for you when you post the article.
7710 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7711 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7712 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7713 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7715 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7716 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7717 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7718 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7719 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7720 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7721 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
7723 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7724 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7725 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7726 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7727 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7728 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7729 Default is @code{t}.
7735 @subsection Viewing Files
7736 @cindex viewing files
7737 @cindex pseudo-articles
7739 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
7740 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7741 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7742 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
7743 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7744 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7745 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7747 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7748 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7749 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7750 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7752 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7753 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7754 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7756 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7757 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7758 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7759 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7760 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7762 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7763 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7764 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7765 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7766 a list of parameters to that command.
7768 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7769 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7770 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7772 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7773 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7774 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7777 @node Article Treatment
7778 @section Article Treatment
7780 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
7781 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
7782 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
7783 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
7784 these articles easier.
7787 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
7788 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
7789 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
7790 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
7791 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
7792 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
7793 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
7794 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
7795 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
7796 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
7800 @node Article Highlighting
7801 @subsection Article Highlighting
7802 @cindex highlighting
7804 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
7805 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
7810 @kindex W H a (Summary)
7811 @findex gnus-article-highlight
7812 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7813 Do much highlighting of the current article
7814 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
7815 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
7818 @kindex W H h (Summary)
7819 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
7820 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
7821 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
7822 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
7823 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
7824 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
7825 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
7826 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
7827 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
7828 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
7829 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
7832 @kindex W H c (Summary)
7833 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
7834 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
7836 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
7839 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7841 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7842 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
7843 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
7845 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
7846 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
7847 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
7849 @item gnus-cite-face-list
7850 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
7851 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
7852 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
7853 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
7854 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
7856 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
7857 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
7858 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
7860 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7861 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7862 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
7864 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7865 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7866 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
7867 that it's a citation.
7869 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7870 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7871 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
7873 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7874 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7875 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
7877 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
7878 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
7879 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
7880 cited text belonging to the attribution.
7886 @kindex W H s (Summary)
7887 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7888 @vindex gnus-signature-face
7889 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
7890 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
7891 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
7892 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
7893 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
7898 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
7901 @node Article Fontisizing
7902 @subsection Article Fontisizing
7904 @cindex article emphasis
7906 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
7907 @kindex W e (Summary)
7908 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
7909 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
7910 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
7911 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
7913 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
7914 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
7915 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
7916 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
7917 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
7918 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
7919 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
7920 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
7924 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
7925 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
7926 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
7935 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
7936 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
7937 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
7938 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
7939 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
7940 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
7941 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
7942 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
7943 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
7944 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
7945 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
7946 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
7947 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
7949 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
7950 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
7951 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
7955 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
7958 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
7960 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
7961 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
7962 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
7963 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
7965 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
7968 @node Article Hiding
7969 @subsection Article Hiding
7970 @cindex article hiding
7972 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
7973 too much cruft in most articles.
7978 @kindex W W a (Summary)
7979 @findex gnus-article-hide
7980 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
7981 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
7982 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
7985 @kindex W W h (Summary)
7986 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
7987 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
7991 @kindex W W b (Summary)
7992 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7993 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
7994 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
7997 @kindex W W s (Summary)
7998 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
7999 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
8003 @kindex W W l (Summary)
8004 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
8005 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8006 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
8007 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
8008 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
8009 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
8010 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
8014 @item gnus-list-identifiers
8015 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8016 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
8017 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
8022 @kindex W W p (Summary)
8023 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
8024 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
8025 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
8026 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
8027 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
8028 articles that have signatures in them do:
8030 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
8032 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
8034 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
8035 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
8037 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
8040 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
8045 @kindex W W P (Summary)
8046 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
8047 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
8048 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
8051 @kindex W W B (Summary)
8052 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
8053 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
8054 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8057 @cindex stripping advertisements
8058 @cindex advertisements
8059 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
8060 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
8061 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
8062 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
8063 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
8064 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
8065 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
8066 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
8067 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
8068 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
8071 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
8072 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
8073 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
8077 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8078 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8079 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
8080 @code{(ADDRESS . BANNER)}, where ADDRESS is a regexp matching a mail
8081 address in the From header, BANNER is one of a symbol @code{signature},
8082 an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}, a regexp and @code{nil}.
8083 If ADDRESS matches author's mail address, it will remove things like
8084 advertisements. For example, if a sender has the mail address
8085 @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a banner something like
8086 @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he sends, you can use the
8087 following element to remove them:
8090 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" . "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
8096 @kindex W W c (Summary)
8097 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
8098 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
8099 customizing the hiding:
8103 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8104 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8105 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8106 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8107 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
8108 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
8109 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
8114 Starting point of the hidden text.
8116 Ending point of the hidden text.
8118 Number of characters in the hidden region.
8120 Number of lines of hidden text.
8123 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
8124 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
8125 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
8126 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
8127 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
8132 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
8133 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
8135 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
8136 following two variables:
8139 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8140 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8141 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
8142 50), hide the cited text.
8144 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8145 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8146 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8151 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8152 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8153 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8154 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8155 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8156 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8160 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8161 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8162 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8164 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8165 citation customization.
8167 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8171 @node Article Washing
8172 @subsection Article Washing
8174 @cindex article washing
8176 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8177 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8179 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8180 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8183 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8184 articles by default.
8189 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8190 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8194 @kindex W l (Summary)
8195 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8196 Remove page breaks from the current article
8197 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8201 @kindex W r (Summary)
8202 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8203 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8204 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8205 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8206 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8207 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8209 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8210 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8211 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8212 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8215 @kindex W m (Summary)
8216 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
8217 @c @icon{gnus-summary-morse-message}
8218 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
8222 @kindex W t (Summary)
8224 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
8225 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8226 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
8229 @kindex W v (Summary)
8230 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8231 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8232 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8235 @kindex W o (Summary)
8236 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8237 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8240 @kindex W d (Summary)
8241 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8242 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8244 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8246 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8247 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8248 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8249 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8252 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8253 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8254 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8255 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8258 @kindex W k (Summary)
8259 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
8260 @cindex Outlook Express
8261 Deuglify broken Outlook (Express) articles and redisplay
8262 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8265 @kindex W w (Summary)
8266 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
8267 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
8269 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8273 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8274 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8275 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8278 @kindex W C (Summary)
8279 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8280 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8281 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8284 @kindex W c (Summary)
8285 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8286 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8287 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8288 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8289 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8292 @kindex W q (Summary)
8293 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
8294 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
8295 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
8296 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
8297 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
8298 readable to me. Note that this is usually done automatically by
8299 Gnus if the message in question has a @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding}
8300 header that says that this encoding has been done.
8301 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8304 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8305 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8306 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}).
8307 Base64 is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending non-ASCII
8308 (i. e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is usually done
8309 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8310 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding has
8312 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8315 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8316 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8317 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8318 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8319 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8322 @kindex W u (Summary)
8323 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
8324 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
8325 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
8326 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
8327 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
8330 @kindex W h (Summary)
8331 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8332 Treat @sc{html} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
8333 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8334 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @sc{html}.
8336 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8338 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
8339 The default is to use the function specified by
8340 @code{mm-inline-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Customization, , , emacs-mime})
8341 to convert the @sc{html}, but this is controlled by the
8342 @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions you
8350 Use emacs-w3m (see @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/} for more
8354 Use Links (see @uref{http://artax.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~mikulas/links/}).
8357 Use Lynx (see @uref{http://lynx.browser.org/}).
8360 Use html2text -- a simple @sc{html} converter included with Gnus.
8365 @kindex W b (Summary)
8366 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8367 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8368 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8371 @kindex W B (Summary)
8372 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8373 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8374 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8377 @kindex W p (Summary)
8378 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8379 Verify a signed control message (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}).
8380 Control messages such as @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are
8381 usually signed by the hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the PGP
8382 public key of the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8383 message.@footnote{PGP keys for many hierarchies are available at
8384 @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8387 @kindex W s (Summary)
8388 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8389 Verify a signed (PGP, @sc{pgp/mime} or @sc{s/mime}) message
8390 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
8393 @kindex W a (Summary)
8394 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
8395 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8396 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
8399 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8400 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8401 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8402 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8405 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8406 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8407 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8408 lines with a single empty line.
8409 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8412 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8413 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8414 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8415 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8418 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8419 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8420 Do all the three commands above
8421 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8424 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8425 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8426 Remove all blank lines
8427 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8430 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8431 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8432 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8433 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8436 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8437 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8438 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8439 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8443 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8446 @node Article Header
8447 @subsection Article Header
8449 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
8454 @kindex W G u (Summary)
8455 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8456 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8459 @kindex W G n (Summary)
8460 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
8461 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
8462 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
8465 @kindex W G f (Summary)
8466 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
8467 Fold all the message headers
8468 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
8472 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
8473 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
8474 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
8479 @node Article Buttons
8480 @subsection Article Buttons
8483 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8484 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8485 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8486 button on these references.
8488 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8489 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8490 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links and man pages.
8491 This is controlled by two variables, one that handles article bodies and
8492 one that handles article heads:
8496 @item gnus-button-alist
8497 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8498 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8501 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8507 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
8508 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
8509 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a variable containing a
8510 regexp, useful variables to use include @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}.
8513 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8514 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8515 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8518 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8519 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8520 avoid false matches.
8523 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8526 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8527 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8531 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8534 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8537 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8538 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8539 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8540 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8541 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8544 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8547 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8549 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8550 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8551 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8552 default values of the variables above.
8554 @item gnus-article-button-face
8555 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8556 Face used on buttons.
8558 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8559 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8560 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8564 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8568 @subsection Article Date
8570 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8571 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8572 when the article was sent.
8577 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8578 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8579 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8580 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8583 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8584 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8586 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8587 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8590 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8591 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8592 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8595 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8596 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8597 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8598 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
8601 @kindex W T s (Summary)
8602 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
8603 @findex gnus-article-date-user
8604 @findex format-time-string
8605 Display the date using a user-defined format
8606 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
8607 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
8608 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
8609 for a list of possible format specs.
8612 @kindex W T e (Summary)
8613 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
8614 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
8615 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
8616 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
8617 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
8620 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
8623 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
8624 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
8627 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
8628 into wonderful absurdities.
8630 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
8633 (gnus-start-date-timer)
8636 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
8637 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
8641 @kindex W T o (Summary)
8642 @findex gnus-article-date-original
8643 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
8644 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
8645 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
8646 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
8647 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
8651 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
8652 preferred format automatically.
8655 @node Article Display
8656 @subsection Article Display
8661 These commands add various frivolous display gimmics to the article
8662 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
8664 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
8665 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
8667 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
8668 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
8670 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
8671 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
8673 All these functions are toggles--if the elements already exist,
8678 @kindex W D x (Summary)
8679 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
8680 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
8681 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
8684 @kindex W D s (Summary)
8685 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
8686 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
8689 @kindex W D f (Summary)
8690 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
8691 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
8694 @kindex W D m (Summary)
8695 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
8696 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
8697 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
8700 @kindex W D n (Summary)
8701 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
8702 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
8703 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
8706 @kindex W D D (Summary)
8707 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
8708 Remove all images from the article buffer
8709 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
8715 @node Article Signature
8716 @subsection Article Signature
8718 @cindex article signature
8720 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8721 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
8722 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
8723 that says what is to be considered a signature is
8724 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
8725 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
8726 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
8727 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
8728 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
8731 (setq gnus-signature-separator
8732 '("^-- $" ; The standard
8733 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
8734 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
8735 ; line of dashes. Shame!
8736 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
8737 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
8738 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
8741 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
8744 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
8745 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
8746 signature when displaying articles.
8750 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
8753 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
8756 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
8757 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
8759 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
8760 in question is not a signature.
8763 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
8764 listed above. Here's an example:
8767 (setq gnus-signature-limit
8768 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
8771 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
8772 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
8773 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
8774 signature after all.
8777 @node Article Miscellania
8778 @subsection Article Miscellania
8782 @kindex A t (Summary)
8783 @findex gnus-article-babel
8784 Translate the article from one language to another
8785 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
8791 @section MIME Commands
8792 @cindex MIME decoding
8794 @cindex viewing attachments
8796 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
8797 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
8803 @kindex K v (Summary)
8804 View the @sc{mime} part.
8807 @kindex K o (Summary)
8808 Save the @sc{mime} part.
8811 @kindex K c (Summary)
8812 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
8815 @kindex K e (Summary)
8816 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
8819 @kindex K i (Summary)
8820 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
8823 @kindex K | (Summary)
8824 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
8827 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
8832 @kindex K b (Summary)
8833 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
8834 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
8838 @kindex K m (Summary)
8839 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
8840 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
8841 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
8842 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
8843 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
8846 @kindex X m (Summary)
8847 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
8848 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
8849 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
8850 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8853 @kindex M-t (Summary)
8854 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
8855 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
8856 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
8859 @kindex W M w (Summary)
8860 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
8861 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
8862 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
8865 @kindex W M c (Summary)
8866 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
8867 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
8868 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
8870 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
8871 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
8872 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
8873 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
8874 include @sc{mime} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
8875 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
8878 @kindex W M v (Summary)
8879 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
8880 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
8881 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
8888 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
8889 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
8890 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8891 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
8894 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
8897 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
8901 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8902 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8903 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8904 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
8905 displayed or this variable is overriden by
8906 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
8909 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
8910 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
8911 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8912 this list will have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
8913 displayed. This variable overrides
8914 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
8916 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
8917 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
8918 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
8920 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
8921 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
8922 If this is non-nil, then all @sc{mime} parts get buttons. The default
8923 value is @code{nil}.
8925 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
8926 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
8927 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
8928 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
8929 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
8930 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
8931 save all jpegs into some directory).
8933 Here's an example function the does the latter:
8936 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
8937 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
8939 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
8940 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
8941 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
8942 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
8943 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
8946 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8947 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8948 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
8950 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8951 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8952 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @sc{mime} parts.
8953 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
8955 Ready-made functions include@*
8956 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
8957 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
8958 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
8959 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
8960 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
8961 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
8962 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
8963 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
8964 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
8965 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
8966 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
8967 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
8969 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
8970 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
8972 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
8973 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
8974 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
8977 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8978 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
8979 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
8980 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
8984 to your @file{.gnus} file.
8993 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
8994 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
8995 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
8996 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
8997 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
8998 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
8999 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
9001 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
9002 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
9003 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
9004 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
9006 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
9007 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
9008 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
9009 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
9010 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
9011 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
9012 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
9013 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
9015 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
9016 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
9017 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
9018 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
9019 quoted-printable header encoding.
9021 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
9022 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
9023 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
9027 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
9030 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
9031 means encode all charsets),
9033 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
9034 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
9035 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
9042 @cindex coding system aliases
9043 @cindex preferred charset
9045 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
9047 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
9048 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
9051 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
9052 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
9055 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
9056 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
9058 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
9061 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
9064 This will almost do the right thing.
9066 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
9070 (codepage-setup 1251)
9071 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
9075 @node Article Commands
9076 @section Article Commands
9083 @kindex A P (Summary)
9084 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
9085 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
9086 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
9087 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
9088 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
9089 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
9094 @node Summary Sorting
9095 @section Summary Sorting
9096 @cindex summary sorting
9098 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
9099 can't really see why you'd want that.
9104 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
9105 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
9106 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
9109 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
9110 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
9111 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
9114 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
9115 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
9116 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
9119 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
9120 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
9121 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
9124 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
9125 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
9126 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
9129 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
9130 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
9131 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
9134 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
9135 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
9136 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
9139 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
9140 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
9141 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
9144 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
9145 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
9146 Sort using the default sorting method
9147 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
9150 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
9151 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
9152 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
9153 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
9154 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
9158 @node Finding the Parent
9159 @section Finding the Parent
9160 @cindex parent articles
9161 @cindex referring articles
9166 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
9167 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
9168 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
9169 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
9170 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
9171 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
9172 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
9173 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
9174 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
9176 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
9177 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
9178 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
9179 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
9180 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
9184 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
9185 @kindex A R (Summary)
9186 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
9187 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
9190 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
9191 @kindex A T (Summary)
9192 Display the full thread where the current article appears
9193 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
9194 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
9195 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
9196 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
9197 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
9198 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
9200 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
9201 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
9202 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
9203 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
9204 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
9205 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
9208 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
9209 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
9211 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
9212 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
9213 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
9214 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
9215 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
9216 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
9217 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
9220 The current select method will be used when fetching by
9221 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
9222 by giving this command a prefix.
9224 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
9225 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
9226 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
9227 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
9228 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
9229 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
9232 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
9233 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
9234 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
9237 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
9238 then ask Google if that fails:
9241 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
9243 (nnweb "refer" (nnweb-type google))))
9246 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
9247 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
9248 @code{nnbabyl}, and @code{nnmaildir} are able to locate articles from
9249 any groups, while @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
9250 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current group.
9251 (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not
9252 support this at all.
9255 @node Alternative Approaches
9256 @section Alternative Approaches
9258 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
9259 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
9262 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
9263 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
9268 @subsection Pick and Read
9269 @cindex pick and read
9271 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
9272 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
9273 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
9274 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
9276 @findex gnus-pick-mode
9277 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
9278 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
9279 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
9280 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
9281 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
9283 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
9288 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
9289 Pick the article or thread on the current line
9290 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9291 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
9292 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
9293 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
9294 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
9295 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
9298 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
9299 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
9300 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
9301 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
9305 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
9306 Unpick the thread or article
9307 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9308 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
9309 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
9310 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
9311 the thread or article at that line.
9315 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
9316 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
9317 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
9318 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
9319 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
9320 will still be visible when you are reading.
9324 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
9325 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
9326 which is mapped to the same function
9327 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
9329 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
9332 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
9335 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
9336 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
9338 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
9339 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
9340 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
9342 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
9343 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
9344 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
9345 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
9346 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
9347 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
9348 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
9352 @subsection Binary Groups
9353 @cindex binary groups
9355 @findex gnus-binary-mode
9356 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
9357 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
9358 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
9359 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
9360 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
9361 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
9364 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
9365 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
9366 command, when you have turned on this mode
9367 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
9369 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
9370 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
9374 @section Tree Display
9377 @vindex gnus-use-trees
9378 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
9379 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9380 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9383 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9386 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9387 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9388 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9390 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9391 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9392 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9393 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9394 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9396 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9397 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9398 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9399 default is @code{modeline}.
9401 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9402 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9403 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9404 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9405 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9406 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9407 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9413 The name of the poster.
9415 The @code{From} header.
9417 The number of the article.
9419 The opening bracket.
9421 The closing bracket.
9426 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9428 Variables related to the display are:
9431 @item gnus-tree-brackets
9432 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
9433 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
9434 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
9435 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
9436 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
9438 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9439 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9440 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
9441 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
9445 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
9446 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
9447 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
9448 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
9449 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
9450 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
9451 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
9452 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
9453 other windows displayed next to it.
9455 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
9459 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
9460 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
9463 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
9464 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
9465 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9466 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
9467 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
9468 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
9469 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
9473 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
9476 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
9486 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
9490 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
9491 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
9493 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
9495 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
9500 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
9501 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
9502 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
9505 (setq gnus-use-trees t
9506 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9507 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
9508 (gnus-add-configuration
9512 (summary 0.75 point)
9517 @xref{Window Layout}.
9520 @node Mail Group Commands
9521 @section Mail Group Commands
9522 @cindex mail group commands
9524 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
9525 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
9527 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
9528 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9533 @kindex B e (Summary)
9534 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
9535 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
9536 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
9537 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
9538 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
9541 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
9542 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
9543 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
9544 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
9545 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
9546 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
9549 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
9550 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
9551 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
9552 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
9553 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
9554 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
9557 @kindex B m (Summary)
9559 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
9560 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
9561 Move the article from one mail group to another
9562 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9563 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9566 @kindex B c (Summary)
9568 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
9569 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
9570 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
9571 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9572 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9575 @kindex B B (Summary)
9576 @cindex crosspost mail
9577 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
9578 Crosspost the current article to some other group
9579 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
9580 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
9581 be properly updated.
9584 @kindex B i (Summary)
9585 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
9586 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
9587 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
9588 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9591 @kindex B I (Summary)
9592 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
9593 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
9594 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
9595 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9598 @kindex B r (Summary)
9599 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
9600 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
9601 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
9602 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
9603 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
9604 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
9605 (which is the default).
9609 @kindex B w (Summary)
9611 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
9612 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
9613 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
9614 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
9615 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
9616 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
9617 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
9620 @kindex B q (Summary)
9621 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
9622 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
9623 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
9624 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
9627 @kindex B t (Summary)
9628 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
9629 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
9630 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
9633 @kindex B p (Summary)
9634 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
9635 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
9636 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
9637 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
9638 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
9639 article from your news server (or rather, from
9640 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
9641 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
9642 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
9643 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
9644 just not have arrived yet.
9647 @kindex K E (Summary)
9648 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
9649 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
9650 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
9651 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
9652 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
9656 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
9657 @cindex moving articles
9658 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
9659 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
9660 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
9661 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
9662 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
9663 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
9664 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
9667 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
9668 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
9669 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
9670 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
9674 @node Various Summary Stuff
9675 @section Various Summary Stuff
9678 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
9679 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
9680 * Summary Generation Commands::
9681 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
9685 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
9686 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
9687 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
9689 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
9690 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
9691 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
9692 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
9693 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
9694 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
9697 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9698 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9699 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
9700 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
9701 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
9703 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9704 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9705 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
9708 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9709 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9710 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
9711 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
9712 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
9713 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
9714 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
9715 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
9716 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
9717 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
9719 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9720 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9721 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
9722 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
9723 list of articles to be selected.
9725 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
9726 the list in one particular group:
9729 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
9730 (if (string= group "some.group")
9731 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
9735 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
9736 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
9737 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
9738 variables and their default values (when the default values are not
9739 nil), that should be made global while the summary buffer is active.
9740 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
9741 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
9742 buffers. For example:
9745 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
9746 '(message-use-followup-to
9747 (gnus-visible-headers .
9748 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
9754 @node Summary Group Information
9755 @subsection Summary Group Information
9760 @kindex H f (Summary)
9761 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
9762 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
9763 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
9764 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
9765 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
9766 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
9767 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
9768 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
9769 be used for fetching the file.
9772 @kindex H d (Summary)
9773 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
9774 Give a brief description of the current group
9775 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
9776 rereading the description from the server.
9779 @kindex H h (Summary)
9780 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
9781 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
9782 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
9785 @kindex H i (Summary)
9786 @findex gnus-info-find-node
9787 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
9791 @node Searching for Articles
9792 @subsection Searching for Articles
9797 @kindex M-s (Summary)
9798 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
9799 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
9800 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
9803 @kindex M-r (Summary)
9804 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
9805 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
9806 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
9810 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
9811 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
9812 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
9813 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
9814 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
9815 search backward instead.
9817 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
9818 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
9821 @kindex M-& (Summary)
9822 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
9823 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
9824 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
9827 @node Summary Generation Commands
9828 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
9833 @kindex Y g (Summary)
9834 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
9835 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
9838 @kindex Y c (Summary)
9839 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
9840 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
9841 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
9846 @node Really Various Summary Commands
9847 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
9853 @kindex C-d (Summary)
9854 @kindex A D (Summary)
9855 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
9856 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
9857 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
9858 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
9859 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
9860 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
9861 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
9862 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
9866 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
9867 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
9868 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
9869 several documents into one biiig group
9870 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
9871 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
9872 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
9873 command understands the process/prefix convention
9874 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9877 @kindex C-t (Summary)
9878 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
9879 Toggle truncation of summary lines
9880 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
9881 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
9882 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
9886 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
9887 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
9888 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
9891 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
9892 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
9893 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
9894 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
9897 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
9898 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
9899 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
9900 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
9905 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
9906 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
9907 @cindex summary exit
9908 @cindex exiting groups
9910 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
9911 group and return you to the group buffer.
9917 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
9919 @findex gnus-summary-exit
9920 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
9921 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
9922 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
9923 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
9924 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
9925 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
9926 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
9927 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
9928 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
9929 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
9933 @kindex Z E (Summary)
9935 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
9936 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
9937 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
9941 @kindex Z c (Summary)
9943 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
9944 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
9945 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
9946 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
9949 @kindex Z C (Summary)
9950 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
9951 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
9952 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
9955 @kindex Z n (Summary)
9956 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
9957 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
9958 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
9961 @kindex Z R (Summary)
9962 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
9963 Exit this group, and then enter it again
9964 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
9965 all articles, both read and unread.
9969 @kindex Z G (Summary)
9970 @kindex M-g (Summary)
9971 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
9972 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
9973 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
9974 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
9975 articles, both read and unread.
9978 @kindex Z N (Summary)
9979 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
9980 Exit the group and go to the next group
9981 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
9984 @kindex Z P (Summary)
9985 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
9986 Exit the group and go to the previous group
9987 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
9990 @kindex Z s (Summary)
9991 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
9992 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
9993 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
9994 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
9995 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
9998 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
9999 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
10000 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
10001 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
10003 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
10004 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
10005 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
10006 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
10007 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
10008 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
10009 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
10010 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
10011 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
10012 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
10013 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
10014 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
10016 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
10018 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
10019 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
10020 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
10021 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
10022 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
10023 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
10024 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
10025 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
10026 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
10029 @node Crosspost Handling
10030 @section Crosspost Handling
10034 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
10035 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
10036 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
10037 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
10038 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
10039 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
10042 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
10043 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
10044 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
10045 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
10046 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
10048 @cindex cross-posting
10051 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
10052 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
10053 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
10054 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
10055 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
10056 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
10057 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
10058 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
10059 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
10060 the cross reference mechanism.
10062 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
10063 @cindex overview.fmt
10064 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
10065 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
10066 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
10067 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
10068 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
10069 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
10072 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
10073 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
10074 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
10079 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
10082 @node Duplicate Suppression
10083 @section Duplicate Suppression
10085 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
10086 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
10087 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
10088 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
10093 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
10094 is evil and not very common.
10097 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
10098 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
10101 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
10102 different @sc{nntp} servers.
10105 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
10108 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
10109 well, but these four are the most common situations.
10111 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
10112 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
10113 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
10114 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
10115 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
10116 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
10117 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
10120 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
10121 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
10122 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
10123 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
10124 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
10125 saw the article in.
10128 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
10129 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
10130 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
10132 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
10133 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
10134 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
10135 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
10136 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
10137 session are suppressed.
10139 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
10140 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
10141 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
10142 suppression list. The default is 10000.
10144 @item gnus-duplicate-file
10145 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
10146 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
10147 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
10150 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
10151 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
10152 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
10153 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
10154 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
10155 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
10156 to you to figure out, I think.
10161 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
10162 The formats that are supported are PGP, @sc{pgp/mime} and @sc{s/mime},
10163 however you need some external programs to get things to work:
10167 To handle PGP messages, you have to install mailcrypt or gpg.el as
10168 well as a OpenPGP implementation (such as GnuPG).
10171 To handle @sc{s/mime} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
10172 or newer is recommended.
10176 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
10177 manual (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
10180 @item mm-verify-option
10181 @vindex mm-verify-option
10182 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
10183 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
10184 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10186 @item mm-decrypt-option
10187 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
10188 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
10189 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
10190 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10195 @section Mailing List
10197 @kindex A M (summary)
10198 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
10199 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
10200 either add a `to-list' group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
10201 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
10202 summary buffer, or say:
10205 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-mailing-list-mode)
10208 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
10213 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
10214 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
10215 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
10218 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
10219 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
10220 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
10223 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
10224 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
10225 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
10229 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
10230 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
10231 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
10234 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
10235 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10236 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
10239 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
10240 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10241 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
10245 @node Article Buffer
10246 @chapter Article Buffer
10247 @cindex article buffer
10249 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
10250 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
10251 tell Gnus otherwise.
10254 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
10255 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
10256 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
10257 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
10258 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
10262 @node Hiding Headers
10263 @section Hiding Headers
10264 @cindex hiding headers
10265 @cindex deleting headers
10267 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
10268 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
10270 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
10271 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
10272 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
10273 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
10274 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
10275 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
10276 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
10277 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
10278 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
10280 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
10284 @item gnus-visible-headers
10285 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
10286 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
10287 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
10288 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
10290 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
10291 the article and the subject, you'd say:
10294 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
10297 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10300 @item gnus-ignored-headers
10301 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
10302 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
10303 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
10304 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
10305 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
10307 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
10308 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
10311 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
10314 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10317 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
10318 variable will have no effect.
10322 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
10323 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
10324 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
10325 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
10326 the headers are to be displayed.
10328 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
10329 and then the subject, you might say something like:
10332 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
10335 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
10336 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
10338 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
10339 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
10340 You can hide further boring headers by setting
10341 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
10342 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
10343 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
10344 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
10347 These conditions are:
10350 Remove all empty headers.
10352 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
10353 @code{Newsgroups} header.
10355 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
10356 @code{From} header.
10358 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
10361 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10362 the current groups's @code{to-address} parameter.
10364 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
10367 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
10369 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
10372 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
10375 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
10376 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
10379 This is also the default value for this variable.
10383 @section Using MIME
10386 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
10387 while people stand around yawning.
10389 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
10390 while all newsreaders die of fear.
10392 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
10393 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
10394 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
10396 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
10397 @findex gnus-display-mime
10398 Gnus pushes @sc{mime} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
10399 to display the @sc{mime} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
10400 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
10401 display, save and manipulate the @sc{mime} objects.
10403 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
10407 @findex gnus-article-press-button
10408 @item RET (Article)
10409 @kindex RET (Article)
10410 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
10411 Toggle displaying of the @sc{mime} object
10412 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}). If builtin viewers can not display
10413 the object, Gnus resorts to external viewers in the @file{mailcap}
10414 files. If a viewer has the @samp{copiousoutput} specification, the
10415 object is displayed inline.
10417 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
10418 @item M-RET (Article)
10419 @kindex M-RET (Article)
10421 Prompt for a method, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
10422 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
10424 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
10426 @kindex t (Article)
10427 View the @sc{mime} object as if it were a different @sc{mime} media type
10428 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
10430 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
10432 @kindex C (Article)
10433 Prompt for a charset, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
10434 charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
10436 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
10438 @kindex o (Article)
10439 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @sc{mime} object
10440 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
10442 @findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
10443 @item C-o (Article)
10444 @kindex C-o (Article)
10445 Prompt for a file name, then save the @sc{mime} object and strip it from
10446 the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
10447 suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
10448 like. The stripped @sc{mime} object will be referred via the
10449 message/external-body @sc{mime} type.
10450 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
10452 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
10454 @kindex c (Article)
10455 Copy the @sc{mime} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
10456 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}).
10458 @findex gnus-mime-print-part
10460 @kindex p (Article)
10461 Print the @sc{mime} object (@code{gnus-mime-print-part}). This
10462 command respects the @samp{print=} specifications in the
10463 @file{.mailcap} file.
10465 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
10467 @kindex i (Article)
10468 Insert the contents of the @sc{mime} object into the buffer
10469 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as text/plain. If given a prefix, insert
10470 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
10471 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
10472 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @pxref{Paging the
10475 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-internally
10477 @kindex E (Article)
10478 View the @sc{mime} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
10479 viewer is available, use an external viewer
10480 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-internally}).
10482 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-externally
10484 @kindex e (Article)
10485 View the @sc{mime} object with an external viewer.
10486 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-externally}).
10488 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
10490 @kindex | (Article)
10491 Output the @sc{mime} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
10493 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
10495 @kindex . (Article)
10496 Interactively run an action on the @sc{mime} object
10497 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
10501 Gnus will display some @sc{mime} objects automatically. The way Gnus
10502 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs
10505 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
10506 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
10507 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
10508 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
10509 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
10510 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
10511 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
10512 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
10513 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
10515 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
10517 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
10520 @node Customizing Articles
10521 @section Customizing Articles
10522 @cindex article customization
10524 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
10525 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
10526 called automatically when you select the articles.
10528 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
10529 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
10530 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
10531 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
10533 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
10534 for sensible values.
10538 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
10541 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
10544 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
10547 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
10550 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
10554 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
10555 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
10556 regexps in the list.
10559 A list where the first element is not a string:
10561 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
10562 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
10563 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
10567 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
10572 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
10573 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
10574 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
10575 considered to contain just a single part.
10577 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
10578 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
10579 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
10580 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
10581 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
10582 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
10583 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
10585 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
10586 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
10587 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
10588 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
10591 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
10592 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
10594 @xref{Article Buttons}.
10596 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
10597 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
10598 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
10599 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
10600 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
10601 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
10602 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
10603 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
10604 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
10605 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
10607 @xref{Article Washing}.
10609 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
10610 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
10611 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
10612 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
10613 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
10614 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
10615 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
10617 @xref{Article Date}.
10619 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
10620 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
10621 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
10625 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
10627 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
10629 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
10630 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
10631 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
10635 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
10639 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
10640 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
10641 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
10642 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
10643 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
10644 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
10645 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
10646 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
10648 @xref{Article Hiding}.
10650 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
10651 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
10652 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
10654 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
10656 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
10657 @item gnus-treat-translate
10658 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
10660 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
10661 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
10662 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
10663 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
10665 @xref{Article Header}.
10670 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
10671 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
10672 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
10673 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
10674 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
10678 @node Article Keymap
10679 @section Article Keymap
10681 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
10682 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
10683 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
10684 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
10687 A few additional keystrokes are available:
10692 @kindex SPACE (Article)
10693 @findex gnus-article-next-page
10694 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
10697 @kindex DEL (Article)
10698 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
10699 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
10702 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
10703 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
10704 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
10705 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
10706 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
10709 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
10710 @findex gnus-article-mail
10711 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
10712 given a prefix, include the mail.
10715 @kindex s (Article)
10716 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
10717 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
10718 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
10721 @kindex ? (Article)
10722 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
10723 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
10724 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
10727 @kindex TAB (Article)
10728 @findex gnus-article-next-button
10729 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
10730 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
10733 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
10734 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
10735 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
10738 @kindex R (Article)
10739 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
10740 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
10741 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If given a prefix, make a
10742 wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10746 @kindex F (Article)
10747 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
10748 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
10749 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If given a prefix, make
10750 a wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10758 @section Misc Article
10762 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
10763 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
10764 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
10765 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
10768 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
10769 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
10771 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
10772 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
10774 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
10775 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
10776 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
10777 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
10778 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
10779 the contents of the article buffer.
10781 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
10782 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
10783 Hook called in article mode buffers.
10785 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10786 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10787 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
10788 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
10790 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
10791 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
10792 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
10793 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
10794 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
10800 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
10801 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
10802 performed. The characters and their meaning:
10807 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
10810 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
10813 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
10814 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
10815 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
10818 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
10821 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
10824 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
10829 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
10833 @vindex gnus-break-pages
10835 @item gnus-break-pages
10836 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
10837 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
10838 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
10839 paging will not be done.
10841 @item gnus-page-delimiter
10842 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
10843 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
10848 @node Composing Messages
10849 @chapter Composing Messages
10850 @cindex composing messages
10853 @cindex sending mail
10858 @cindex using s/mime
10859 @cindex using smime
10861 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
10862 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
10863 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
10864 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
10865 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
10866 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
10869 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
10870 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
10871 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
10872 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
10873 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
10874 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
10875 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
10876 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
10879 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
10880 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
10886 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
10889 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
10890 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
10891 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
10892 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
10893 @code{nil} include all headers.
10895 @item gnus-add-to-list
10896 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
10897 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
10898 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
10900 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
10901 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
10902 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus requests confirmation when replying to news.
10903 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
10904 press R anyway, this variable might be for you.
10909 @node Posting Server
10910 @section Posting Server
10912 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
10913 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
10915 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
10917 It can be quite complicated.
10919 @vindex gnus-post-method
10920 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
10921 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
10922 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
10923 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
10924 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
10925 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
10926 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
10927 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
10928 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
10931 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
10934 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
10935 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
10936 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
10937 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
10939 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
10940 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
10942 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
10943 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
10946 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
10947 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
10949 When sending mail, Message invokes @code{message-send-mail-function}.
10950 The default function, @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}, pipes
10951 your article to the @code{sendmail} binary for further queuing and
10952 sending. When your local system is not configured for sending mail
10953 using @code{sendmail}, and you have access to a remote @sc{smtp}
10954 server, you can set @code{message-send-mail-function} to
10955 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and make sure to setup the @code{smtpmail}
10956 package correctly. An example:
10959 (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it
10960 smtpmail-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
10963 To the thing similar to this, there is @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}.
10964 It is useful if your ISP requires the POP-before-SMTP authentication.
10965 See the documentation for the function @code{mail-source-touch-pop}.
10967 Other possible choises for @code{message-send-mail-function} includes
10968 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
10969 and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
10971 @node Mail and Post
10972 @section Mail and Post
10974 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
10978 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
10979 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
10980 @cindex mailing lists
10982 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
10983 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
10984 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
10985 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
10986 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
10987 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
10988 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
10989 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
10990 still a pain, though.
10994 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
10995 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
10996 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
10999 @findex ispell-message
11001 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
11004 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
11005 you're in, you could say something like the following:
11008 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
11012 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
11013 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
11015 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
11018 Modify to suit your needs.
11021 @node Archived Messages
11022 @section Archived Messages
11023 @cindex archived messages
11024 @cindex sent messages
11026 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
11027 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
11028 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
11029 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
11032 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
11033 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
11036 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
11037 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
11038 use to store sent messages. The default is:
11041 (nnfolder "archive"
11042 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
11043 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
11044 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
11045 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
11048 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
11049 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
11050 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
11051 directory chosen, you could say something like:
11054 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
11055 '(nnfolder "archive"
11056 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
11057 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
11058 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
11061 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
11063 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
11064 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
11065 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
11067 This variable can be used to do the following:
11072 Messages will be saved in that group.
11074 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
11075 message will not be stored in the select method given by
11076 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
11077 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
11078 has the default value shown above. Then setting
11079 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
11080 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
11081 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
11085 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
11087 an alist of regexps, functions and forms
11088 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
11091 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
11096 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
11098 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
11101 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
11103 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
11106 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
11108 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11109 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
11110 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
11111 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
11114 More complex stuff:
11116 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11117 '((if (message-news-p)
11122 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
11123 messages in one file per month:
11126 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11127 '((if (message-news-p)
11129 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
11132 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
11133 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
11135 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
11136 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
11137 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
11138 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
11139 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
11140 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
11141 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
11142 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
11143 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
11144 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
11146 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
11147 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
11148 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
11149 this will disable archiving.
11152 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
11153 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
11154 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
11155 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
11156 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
11159 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
11160 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
11161 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
11164 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
11165 but the latter is the preferred method.
11167 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11168 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11169 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
11171 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11172 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11173 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
11174 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
11175 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
11176 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
11177 changed in the future.
11182 @node Posting Styles
11183 @section Posting Styles
11184 @cindex posting styles
11187 All them variables, they make my head swim.
11189 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
11190 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
11191 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
11194 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
11195 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
11196 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
11197 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
11198 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
11203 (signature "Peace and happiness")
11204 (organization "What me?"))
11206 (signature "Death to everybody"))
11207 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
11208 (organization "Emacs is it")))
11211 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
11212 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
11213 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
11214 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
11215 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
11216 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
11217 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
11218 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
11220 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
11221 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
11222 If it is the form @code{(header MATCH REGEXP)}, then Gnus will look in
11223 the original article for a header whose name is MATCH and compare that
11224 REGEXP. MATCH and REGEXP are strings. (There original article is the
11225 one you are replying or following up to. If you are not composing a
11226 reply or a followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
11227 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with no
11228 arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
11229 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
11230 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
11233 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
11234 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
11235 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
11236 @code{x-face-file}, @code{address} (overriding
11237 @code{user-mail-address}), @code{name} (overriding
11238 @code{(user-full-name)}) or @code{body}. The attribute name can also
11239 be a string or a symbol. In that case, this will be used as a header
11240 name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the article; if
11241 the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed. If the
11242 attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the result
11245 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
11246 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
11247 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
11248 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
11249 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
11250 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
11251 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
11252 references chars lines xref extra.
11254 @vindex message-reply-headers
11256 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
11257 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
11258 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
11260 @findex message-mail-p
11261 @findex message-news-p
11263 So here's a new example:
11266 (setq gnus-posting-styles
11268 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11270 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11271 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11273 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
11274 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; A form
11275 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
11276 (message-news-p ;; A function symbol
11277 (signature my-news-signature))
11278 (window-system ;; A value symbol
11279 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
11280 ;; If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.
11281 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
11282 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
11283 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; A user defined function
11284 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
11285 (address "user@@bar.foo")
11286 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
11287 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
11289 (From (save-excursion
11290 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
11291 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
11293 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
11296 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
11297 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
11298 if you fill many roles.
11305 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
11306 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
11307 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
11308 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
11309 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
11311 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
11312 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
11313 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
11314 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
11315 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
11319 @vindex nndraft-directory
11320 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
11321 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
11322 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
11323 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
11324 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
11325 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
11327 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
11328 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
11331 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
11332 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
11333 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
11334 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
11335 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
11336 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
11337 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
11338 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
11339 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
11340 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
11341 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
11342 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
11343 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
11344 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
11346 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
11347 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
11348 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
11350 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
11351 @kindex D e (Draft)
11352 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
11353 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
11354 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
11356 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
11359 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
11360 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
11361 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
11362 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
11363 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
11364 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
11365 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
11368 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
11369 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
11370 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
11373 @node Rejected Articles
11374 @section Rejected Articles
11375 @cindex rejected articles
11377 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
11378 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
11379 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
11380 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
11382 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
11383 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
11384 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
11385 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
11386 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
11388 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
11389 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
11390 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
11392 @node Signing and encrypting
11393 @section Signing and encrypting
11395 @cindex using s/mime
11396 @cindex using smime
11398 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla PGP
11399 format or @sc{pgp/mime} or @sc{s/mime}. For decoding such messages,
11400 see the @code{mm-verify-option} and @code{mm-decrypt-option} options
11401 (@pxref{Security}).
11403 For PGP, Gnus supports two external libraries, @sc{gpg.el} and
11404 @sc{Mailcrypt}, you need to install at least one of them. The
11405 @sc{s/mime} support in Gnus requires the external program OpenSSL.
11407 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
11408 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
11409 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
11410 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
11411 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
11412 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
11413 automatically encrypted messages.
11415 Instructing MML to perform security operations on a @sc{mime} part is
11416 done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @kbd{C-c
11417 C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
11422 @kindex C-c C-m s s
11423 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
11425 Digitally sign current message using @sc{s/mime}.
11428 @kindex C-c C-m s o
11429 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11431 Digitally sign current message using PGP.
11434 @kindex C-c C-m s p
11435 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11437 Digitally sign current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
11440 @kindex C-c C-m c s
11441 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
11443 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{s/mime}.
11446 @kindex C-c C-m c o
11447 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
11449 Digitally encrypt current message using PGP.
11452 @kindex C-c C-m c p
11453 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
11455 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
11458 @kindex C-c C-m C-n
11459 @findex mml-unsecure-message
11460 Remove security related MML tags from message.
11464 Also @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}.
11466 @node Select Methods
11467 @chapter Select Methods
11468 @cindex foreign groups
11469 @cindex select methods
11471 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
11472 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
11473 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
11474 personal mail group.
11476 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
11477 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
11478 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
11479 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
11480 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
11481 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
11483 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
11484 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
11486 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
11489 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
11490 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
11491 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
11492 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
11493 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
11495 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
11498 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
11499 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
11500 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
11501 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
11502 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
11503 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
11504 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
11505 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
11509 @node Server Buffer
11510 @section Server Buffer
11512 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
11513 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
11514 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
11515 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
11516 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
11517 back end represents a virtual server.
11519 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
11520 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
11521 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
11522 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
11524 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
11525 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
11526 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
11527 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
11528 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
11529 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
11530 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
11532 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
11533 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
11536 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
11537 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
11538 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
11539 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
11540 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
11541 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
11542 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
11545 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
11546 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
11549 @node Server Buffer Format
11550 @subsection Server Buffer Format
11551 @cindex server buffer format
11553 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
11554 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
11555 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
11556 variable, with some simple extensions:
11561 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
11564 The name of this server.
11567 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
11570 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
11573 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
11574 The mode line can also be customized by using the
11575 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
11576 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
11586 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
11589 @node Server Commands
11590 @subsection Server Commands
11591 @cindex server commands
11597 @findex gnus-server-add-server
11598 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
11602 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
11603 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
11606 @kindex SPACE (Server)
11607 @findex gnus-server-read-server
11608 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
11612 @findex gnus-server-exit
11613 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
11617 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
11618 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
11622 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
11623 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
11627 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
11628 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
11632 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
11633 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
11637 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
11638 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
11639 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
11644 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
11645 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
11646 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
11647 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
11652 @node Example Methods
11653 @subsection Example Methods
11655 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
11658 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
11661 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
11667 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
11668 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
11671 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
11672 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
11674 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
11675 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
11679 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
11682 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
11683 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
11685 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
11686 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
11687 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
11691 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
11694 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
11697 Here's the method for a public spool:
11701 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
11702 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
11708 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
11709 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
11710 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
11711 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
11712 should probably look something like this:
11716 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
11717 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
11718 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
11719 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11722 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
11723 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
11724 configuration to the example above:
11727 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
11730 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}.
11732 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
11733 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
11734 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
11738 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
11739 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
11740 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
11741 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11744 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
11745 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
11746 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
11747 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
11750 @node Creating a Virtual Server
11751 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
11753 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
11754 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
11756 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
11757 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
11758 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
11760 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
11762 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
11763 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
11764 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
11765 will contain the following:
11775 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
11776 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
11777 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
11780 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
11781 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
11782 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
11785 @node Server Variables
11786 @subsection Server Variables
11788 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
11789 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
11790 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
11791 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
11792 won't change the "derived" variables.
11794 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
11795 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
11796 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
11797 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
11798 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
11799 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
11800 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
11801 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
11802 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
11806 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
11807 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
11808 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
11812 @node Servers and Methods
11813 @subsection Servers and Methods
11815 Wherever you would normally use a select method
11816 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
11817 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
11818 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
11822 @node Unavailable Servers
11823 @subsection Unavailable Servers
11825 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
11826 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
11827 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
11828 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
11829 actually the case or not.
11831 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
11832 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
11833 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
11834 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
11835 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
11836 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
11837 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
11838 it will regard that server as ``down''.
11840 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
11841 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
11843 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
11844 with the following commands:
11850 @findex gnus-server-open-server
11851 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
11852 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
11856 @findex gnus-server-close-server
11857 Close the connection (if any) to the server
11858 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
11862 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
11863 Mark the current server as unreachable
11864 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
11867 @kindex M-o (Server)
11868 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
11869 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
11870 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
11873 @kindex M-c (Server)
11874 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
11875 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
11876 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
11880 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
11881 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
11882 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
11886 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
11887 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
11893 @section Getting News
11894 @cindex reading news
11895 @cindex news back ends
11897 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
11898 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
11899 or it can read from a local spool.
11902 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
11903 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
11911 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
11912 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
11913 server as the, uhm, address.
11915 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
11916 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
11917 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
11918 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
11920 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
11921 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
11922 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
11924 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
11929 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
11930 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
11931 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
11933 @cindex authentification
11934 @cindex nntp authentification
11935 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
11936 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
11937 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
11938 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
11939 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
11940 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
11941 present in this hook.
11943 @item nntp-authinfo-function
11944 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
11945 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
11946 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
11947 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
11948 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
11949 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
11950 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
11951 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
11952 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
11953 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
11954 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
11958 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
11961 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
11963 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
11964 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
11965 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
11966 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
11967 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
11968 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
11969 @samp{force} is explained below.
11973 Here's an example file:
11976 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
11977 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
11980 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
11981 have to be first, for instance.
11983 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
11984 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
11985 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
11986 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
11987 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
11988 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
11989 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
11991 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
11992 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
11998 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
11999 previously mentioned.
12001 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
12003 @item nntp-server-action-alist
12004 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
12005 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
12006 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
12007 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
12010 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
12011 '(("innd" (ding))))
12014 You probably don't want to do that, though.
12016 The default value is
12019 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
12020 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
12021 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
12024 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
12025 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
12027 @item nntp-maximum-request
12028 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
12029 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this back end
12030 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
12031 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
12032 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
12033 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
12034 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
12036 @item nntp-connection-timeout
12037 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
12038 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
12039 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
12040 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
12041 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
12042 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
12043 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
12044 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
12045 no timeouts are done.
12047 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
12048 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
12049 @c @cindex PPP connections
12050 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
12051 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
12052 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
12053 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
12054 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
12055 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
12056 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
12057 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
12058 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
12059 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
12061 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
12062 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
12063 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
12064 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
12065 @c described above.
12067 @item nntp-server-hook
12068 @vindex nntp-server-hook
12069 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
12072 @item nntp-buggy-select
12073 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
12074 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
12076 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
12077 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
12078 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
12079 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
12082 @item nntp-xover-commands
12083 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
12086 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
12087 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
12091 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
12092 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
12093 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
12094 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
12095 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
12096 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
12097 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
12098 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
12099 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
12100 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
12101 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
12103 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
12104 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
12105 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
12107 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12108 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12109 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
12110 server closes connection.
12112 @item nntp-record-commands
12113 @vindex nntp-record-commands
12114 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
12115 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
12116 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
12117 that doesn't seem to work.
12119 @item nntp-open-connection-function
12120 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
12121 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
12122 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
12123 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
12124 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
12125 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
12126 indirect ones (two pre-made).
12128 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
12129 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
12130 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
12131 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
12132 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
12133 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
12134 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
12137 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
12140 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
12141 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
12145 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
12146 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
12147 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
12151 @node Direct Functions
12152 @subsubsection Direct Functions
12153 @cindex direct connection functions
12155 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
12156 between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server. The behavior of these
12157 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
12158 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12161 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
12162 @item nntp-open-network-stream
12163 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
12166 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
12167 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
12168 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12169 this you must have OpenSSL (@uref{http://www.openssl.org}) or SSLeay
12170 installed (@uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also
12171 need @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distribution, for instance). You then
12172 define a server as follows:
12175 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
12177 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
12178 ;; however, openssl s_client -port doesn't like named ports
12180 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12181 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
12182 (nntp-port-number 563)
12183 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12186 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
12187 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
12188 Opens a connection to an @sc{nntp} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
12189 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
12190 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
12191 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
12192 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
12193 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
12197 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12198 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
12199 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
12202 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
12203 session, which is not a good idea.
12207 @node Indirect Functions
12208 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
12209 @cindex indirect connection functions
12211 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
12212 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @sc{nntp} server.
12213 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
12214 the "via" family of connection: they're all prefixed with "via" to make
12215 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
12216 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12219 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12220 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12221 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
12222 to the real @sc{nntp} server from there. This is useful for instance if
12223 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
12225 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12228 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
12229 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
12230 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
12231 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
12233 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12234 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12235 List of strings to be used as the switches to
12236 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
12237 @samp{ssh} for `nntp-via-rlogin-command', you may set this to
12238 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections, otherwise set
12239 this to @samp{("-t")} or @samp{("-C" "-t")} if the telnet command
12240 requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate host.
12243 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12244 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12245 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
12246 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
12248 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12251 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
12252 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
12253 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
12256 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
12257 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
12258 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
12259 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
12261 @item nntp-via-user-password
12262 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
12263 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
12265 @item nntp-via-envuser
12266 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
12267 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
12268 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
12269 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
12271 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
12272 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
12273 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
12274 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
12281 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
12286 @item nntp-via-user-name
12287 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
12288 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
12290 @item nntp-via-address
12291 @vindex nntp-via-address
12292 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
12297 @node Common Variables
12298 @subsubsection Common Variables
12300 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
12301 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
12306 @item nntp-pre-command
12307 @vindex nntp-pre-command
12308 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native connection
12309 function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream} and
12310 @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is where you would put a @samp{SOCKS}
12311 wrapper for instance.
12314 @vindex nntp-address
12315 The address of the @sc{nntp} server.
12317 @item nntp-port-number
12318 @vindex nntp-port-number
12319 Port number to connect to the @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{nntp}.
12320 If you use @sc{nntp} over @sc{ssl}, you may want to use integer ports rather
12321 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews}), because
12322 external SSL tools may not work with named ports.
12324 @item nntp-end-of-line
12325 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
12326 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
12327 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
12328 using a non native connection function.
12330 @item nntp-telnet-command
12331 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
12332 Command to use when connecting to the @sc{nntp} server through
12333 @samp{telnet}. This is NOT for an intermediate host. This is just for
12334 the real @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{telnet}.
12336 @item nntp-telnet-switches
12337 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
12338 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
12345 @subsection News Spool
12349 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
12350 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
12351 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
12354 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
12355 anything else) as the address.
12357 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
12358 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
12359 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
12360 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
12364 @item nnspool-inews-program
12365 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
12366 Program used to post an article.
12368 @item nnspool-inews-switches
12369 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
12370 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
12372 @item nnspool-spool-directory
12373 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
12374 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
12375 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
12377 @item nnspool-nov-directory
12378 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
12379 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
12380 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
12382 @item nnspool-lib-dir
12383 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
12384 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
12386 @item nnspool-active-file
12387 @vindex nnspool-active-file
12388 The path to the active file.
12390 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
12391 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
12392 The path to the group descriptions file.
12394 @item nnspool-history-file
12395 @vindex nnspool-history-file
12396 The path to the news history file.
12398 @item nnspool-active-times-file
12399 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
12400 The path to the active date file.
12402 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
12403 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
12404 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
12407 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12408 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12410 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
12411 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
12412 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
12418 @section Getting Mail
12419 @cindex reading mail
12422 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
12426 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
12427 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
12428 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
12429 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
12430 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
12431 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
12432 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
12433 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
12434 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
12435 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
12436 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
12437 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
12438 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
12442 @node Mail in a Newsreader
12443 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
12445 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
12446 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
12447 of a culture shock.
12449 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
12450 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
12452 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
12453 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
12454 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
12455 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
12457 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
12459 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
12460 deleted? How awful!
12462 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
12463 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
12464 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
12465 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
12468 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
12469 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
12470 they want to treat a message.
12472 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
12473 via @sc{smtp}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
12474 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
12475 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
12476 archived somewhere else.
12478 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
12479 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
12480 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
12481 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
12482 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
12484 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
12485 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
12486 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
12488 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
12489 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
12492 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
12493 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
12494 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
12495 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
12496 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
12498 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
12499 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
12500 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
12501 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
12502 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
12503 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
12507 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
12508 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
12510 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
12511 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
12512 and things will happen automatically.
12514 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
12515 mail" back end), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
12518 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
12521 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
12522 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
12523 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
12524 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
12525 like any other group.
12527 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
12530 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12531 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12532 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12536 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
12537 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
12538 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
12541 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
12542 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
12543 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
12546 @node Splitting Mail
12547 @subsection Splitting Mail
12548 @cindex splitting mail
12549 @cindex mail splitting
12551 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
12552 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
12553 to be split into groups.
12556 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12557 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12558 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12559 ("mail.other" "")))
12562 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
12563 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
12564 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
12565 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
12566 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
12567 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
12568 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
12571 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
12574 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
12575 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
12576 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
12577 mail belongs in that group.
12579 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
12580 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
12581 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
12582 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
12583 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
12584 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
12586 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
12587 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
12588 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
12589 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
12590 thinks should carry this mail message.
12592 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
12593 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
12594 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
12595 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
12597 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
12598 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
12599 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
12600 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
12601 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
12603 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
12606 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
12607 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
12608 links. If that's the case for you, set
12609 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
12610 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
12612 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
12613 @kindex nnmail-split-history
12614 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
12615 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
12616 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
12617 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
12620 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
12621 Header lines longer than the value of
12622 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
12625 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
12626 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
12627 By default the splitting codes MIME decodes headers so you can match
12628 on non-ASCII strings. The @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset}
12629 variable specifies the default charset for decoding. The behaviour
12630 can be turned off completely by binding
12631 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} to nil, which is useful if you
12632 want to match articles based on the raw header data.
12634 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
12635 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If
12636 you specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable
12637 @code{mail-sources} @pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}, however, then
12638 splitting does @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
12639 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-nil value to make splitting
12640 happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on other kinds
12643 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
12644 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
12645 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
12646 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
12647 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
12648 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
12649 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
12650 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
12651 month's rent money.
12655 @subsection Mail Sources
12657 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
12658 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
12662 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
12663 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
12664 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
12668 @node Mail Source Specifiers
12669 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
12671 @cindex mail server
12674 @cindex mail source
12676 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
12677 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
12682 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
12685 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
12686 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
12687 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
12690 The following mail source types are available:
12694 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
12700 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
12701 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
12702 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
12705 An example file mail source:
12708 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
12711 Or using the default path:
12717 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
12718 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
12719 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
12722 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
12726 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
12729 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
12733 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
12736 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
12738 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
12741 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
12745 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
12746 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
12747 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files. That is,
12748 there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that directory and
12749 groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool} will be put in
12750 the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix to be used instead
12751 of @code{.spool}.) Setting
12752 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil forces Gnus to
12753 scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful if you want
12754 to scan mail groups at a specified level.
12756 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
12757 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
12758 that to a non-nil value, then the normal splitting process is applied
12759 to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
12765 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
12769 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
12773 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
12774 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
12775 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
12776 predicate are considered.
12780 Script run before/after fetching mail.
12784 An example directory mail source:
12787 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
12792 Get mail from a POP server.
12798 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
12799 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
12802 The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
12803 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
12804 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
12805 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
12806 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
12809 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
12813 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
12817 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This should be
12818 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
12821 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
12824 The valid format specifier characters are:
12828 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
12829 included in this string.
12832 The name of the server.
12835 The port number of the server.
12838 The user name to use.
12841 The password to use.
12844 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
12845 corresponding keywords.
12848 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
12849 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
12852 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
12853 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
12856 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
12857 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
12860 @item :authentication
12861 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
12862 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
12867 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
12868 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
12870 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
12871 default user name, and default fetcher:
12877 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
12880 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
12881 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
12884 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
12887 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
12891 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
12892 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
12893 contains exactly one mail.
12899 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
12900 taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
12903 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
12904 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
12906 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
12907 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
12908 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
12911 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
12912 from locking problems).
12916 Two example maildir mail sources:
12919 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
12920 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
12924 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
12929 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap}
12930 as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for
12931 some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server
12932 and fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for
12935 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, SSL/TLS and STARTTLS support you
12936 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
12942 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
12943 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
12946 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
12947 @samp{993} for SSL/TLS connections.
12950 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
12954 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
12958 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
12959 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
12960 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{ssl},
12961 @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
12963 @item :authentication
12964 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
12965 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
12966 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
12967 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
12970 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
12971 mapped into the `imap-shell-program' variable. This should be a
12972 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
12978 The valid format specifier characters are:
12982 The name of the server.
12985 User name from `imap-default-user'.
12988 The port number of the server.
12991 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
12992 corresponding keywords.
12995 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
12996 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
12999 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
13000 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
13001 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
13002 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
13003 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
13004 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
13007 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
13008 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
13009 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
13010 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
13013 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
13014 after finishing the fetch.
13018 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
13021 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
13023 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
13027 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{www.hotmail.com},
13028 @uref{webmail.netscape.com}, @uref{www.netaddress.com},
13029 @uref{mail.yahoo..com}.
13031 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
13032 required for url "4.0pre.46".
13034 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
13040 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
13041 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
13044 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
13048 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
13052 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
13053 folder after finishing the fetch.
13057 An example webmail source:
13060 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
13062 :password "secret")
13067 @item Common Keywords
13068 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
13074 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
13075 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
13079 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
13084 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
13085 useful when you use local mail and news.
13090 @subsubsection Function Interface
13092 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
13093 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
13094 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
13095 consider the following mail-source setting:
13098 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
13099 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
13102 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
13103 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
13104 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
13105 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
13106 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
13108 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
13111 @node Mail Source Customization
13112 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
13114 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
13115 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
13119 @item mail-source-crash-box
13120 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
13121 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
13122 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
13124 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
13125 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
13126 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
13128 @item mail-source-directory
13129 @vindex mail-source-directory
13130 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
13131 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
13132 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
13135 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13136 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13137 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
13138 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
13139 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
13140 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
13142 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
13143 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
13144 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
13146 @item mail-source-movemail-program
13147 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
13148 If non-nil, name of program for fetching new mail. If nil,
13149 @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
13154 @node Fetching Mail
13155 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
13157 @vindex mail-sources
13158 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
13159 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
13160 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
13161 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
13163 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
13164 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
13167 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
13168 mail server, you'd say something like:
13173 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13174 :password "secret")))
13177 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
13181 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
13182 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13185 :password "secret")))
13189 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
13190 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
13191 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
13192 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
13193 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
13194 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
13198 @node Mail Back End Variables
13199 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
13201 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
13205 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13206 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13207 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
13208 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
13210 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
13211 @item nnmail-split-hook
13212 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
13213 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
13214 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
13215 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
13216 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
13217 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
13218 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
13219 in the buffer will show up in any files.
13220 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
13223 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13224 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13225 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13226 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13227 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
13228 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
13229 starting to handle the new mail) and
13230 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
13231 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
13232 default file modes the new mail files get:
13235 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13236 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
13238 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13239 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
13242 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
13243 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
13244 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
13245 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
13246 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
13247 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
13248 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
13250 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
13251 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
13252 @findex delete-file
13253 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
13255 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13256 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13257 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
13258 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
13259 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
13261 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13262 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13263 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
13264 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
13265 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
13267 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
13268 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
13269 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
13274 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
13275 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
13276 @cindex mail splitting
13277 @cindex fancy mail splitting
13279 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
13280 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
13281 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
13282 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
13283 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
13284 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
13286 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
13289 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
13290 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
13291 ;; from real errors.
13292 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
13294 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
13295 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
13296 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
13297 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
13298 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
13299 ;; Other mailing lists...
13300 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
13301 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
13302 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
13303 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
13304 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
13305 ;; message was really cross-posted.
13306 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
13307 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
13309 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
13310 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
13314 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
13315 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
13316 the five possible split syntaxes:
13321 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
13322 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
13326 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
13327 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
13328 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
13329 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
13330 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
13331 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
13332 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
13333 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
13336 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13337 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
13338 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
13339 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
13342 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13343 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
13346 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
13347 (i.e., delete) this message. Use with extreme caution.
13350 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
13351 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
13352 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
13353 function should return a @var{split}.
13356 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
13357 body of the messages:
13360 (defun split-on-body ()
13362 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
13363 (goto-char (point-min))
13364 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
13368 The @samp{" *nnmail incoming*"} is narrowed to the message in question
13369 when the @code{:} function is run.
13372 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13373 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
13374 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
13378 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
13382 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
13383 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
13384 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
13385 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
13386 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
13388 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
13389 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
13390 are expanded as specified by the variable
13391 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
13392 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
13395 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
13396 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
13397 when all this splitting is performed.
13399 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
13400 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
13401 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
13404 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
13407 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
13408 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
13410 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
13411 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
13412 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
13413 groupings 1 through 9.
13415 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
13416 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
13417 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
13418 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
13419 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
13420 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
13421 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
13422 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
13423 it once per thread.
13425 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} and
13426 @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-nil value. And then
13427 you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} using the colon
13430 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; or 'delete
13431 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
13433 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
13434 ;; other splits go here
13438 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
13439 non-nil, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees in the
13440 file specified by the variable @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file},
13441 together with the group it is in (the group is omitted for non-mail
13442 messages). When mail splitting is invoked, the function
13443 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks at the References (and
13444 In-Reply-To) header of each message to split and searches the file
13445 specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file} for the message ids.
13446 When it has found a parent, it returns the corresponding group name
13447 unless the group name matches the regexp
13448 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is recommended
13449 that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a somewhat higher
13450 number than the default so that the message ids are still in the cache.
13451 (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some 300 kBytes in size.)
13452 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13453 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
13454 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
13455 messages goes into the new group.
13457 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
13458 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
13459 outgoing messages are written to an `outgoing' group, you could set
13460 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
13461 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
13465 @node Group Mail Splitting
13466 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
13467 @cindex mail splitting
13468 @cindex group mail splitting
13470 @findex gnus-group-split
13471 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
13472 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
13473 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
13474 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
13475 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
13476 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
13477 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
13478 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
13480 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
13481 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
13482 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
13483 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
13485 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
13486 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
13487 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
13488 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
13489 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
13490 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
13491 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
13493 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
13494 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
13495 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
13496 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
13497 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
13498 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
13499 @code{gnus-group-split}.
13501 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
13502 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
13503 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
13504 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
13505 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
13506 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
13507 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
13508 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
13509 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
13510 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
13511 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
13512 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
13513 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
13515 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
13520 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
13521 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
13523 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
13524 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
13525 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
13526 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
13528 ((split-spec . catch-all))
13531 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
13532 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
13533 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
13536 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
13537 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
13538 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
13542 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
13543 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
13544 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
13548 (: gnus-group-split-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
13551 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
13552 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
13553 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
13554 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fallback
13555 fancy split, used like @var{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
13556 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
13557 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
13558 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
13559 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
13561 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
13562 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
13563 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
13564 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
13565 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
13566 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
13567 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
13568 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
13569 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
13571 @findex gnus-group-split-update
13572 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
13573 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
13574 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
13575 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
13576 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
13579 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
13582 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
13583 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
13584 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
13585 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
13586 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
13589 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
13590 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
13591 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
13592 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
13594 @node Incorporating Old Mail
13595 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
13596 @cindex incorporating old mail
13597 @cindex import old mail
13599 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
13600 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
13601 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
13604 Doing so can be quite easy.
13606 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
13607 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
13608 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
13609 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
13610 your @code{nnml} groups.
13616 Go to the group buffer.
13619 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
13620 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
13623 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
13626 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
13627 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
13630 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
13631 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
13634 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
13635 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
13636 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
13637 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
13638 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
13640 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
13641 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
13642 using the new mail back end.
13645 @node Expiring Mail
13646 @subsection Expiring Mail
13647 @cindex article expiry
13649 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
13650 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
13651 different approach to mail reading.
13653 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
13654 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
13655 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
13656 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
13657 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
13658 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
13661 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
13662 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default keybindings, this means
13663 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
13664 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
13665 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
13666 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
13667 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
13668 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
13669 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
13671 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
13672 two features, called `auto-expire' and `total-expire', that can help you
13673 with this. In a nutshell, `auto-expire' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
13674 for you when you select an article. And `total-expire' means that Gnus
13675 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
13676 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
13677 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
13680 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
13681 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
13682 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
13683 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
13684 into its own group.)
13686 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
13687 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
13688 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
13689 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
13690 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
13691 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
13692 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring @pxref{Adaptive
13693 Scoring}. Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
13696 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13697 Groups that match the regular expression
13698 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
13699 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
13700 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
13702 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
13703 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
13704 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
13705 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
13708 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
13710 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
13711 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
13712 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
13715 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
13716 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
13717 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
13718 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
13719 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
13721 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
13722 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
13725 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13726 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
13729 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
13730 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
13732 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
13733 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
13734 don't really mix very well.
13736 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
13737 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
13738 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
13739 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
13742 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
13743 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
13744 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
13745 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
13748 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13750 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13752 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
13754 ((string= group "mail.junk")
13756 ((string= group "important")
13762 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
13763 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
13765 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
13766 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
13767 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
13770 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
13771 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
13773 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
13774 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
13775 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
13776 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
13777 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
13778 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
13779 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
13780 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
13781 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
13782 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
13783 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
13784 from as its parameter) which should return a target -- either a group
13785 name or @code{delete}.
13787 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
13789 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
13792 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
13793 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
13794 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
13795 expire mail to groups according to the variable
13796 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
13799 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
13800 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
13801 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
13802 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
13803 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
13806 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
13807 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
13808 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
13809 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
13810 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
13811 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
13813 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
13814 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
13815 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
13816 easier for procmail users.
13818 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
13819 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
13820 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
13821 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
13822 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
13823 caution. Even more dangerous is the
13824 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
13825 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
13826 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
13827 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
13828 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
13829 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
13830 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
13833 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
13835 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
13836 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
13837 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
13838 auto-expire turned on.
13842 @subsection Washing Mail
13843 @cindex mail washing
13844 @cindex list server brain damage
13845 @cindex incoming mail treatment
13847 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
13848 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
13849 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
13850 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
13851 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
13852 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
13854 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
13855 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
13856 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
13859 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
13860 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
13861 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
13862 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
13865 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
13866 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
13867 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
13868 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
13869 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
13872 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
13873 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
13874 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
13875 Emacs running on MS machines.
13879 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
13880 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
13881 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
13882 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
13885 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
13886 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
13887 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
13888 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
13890 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
13891 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
13892 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
13893 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
13894 into a feature by documenting it.)
13896 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
13897 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
13898 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
13899 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
13900 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
13901 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
13902 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
13905 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
13906 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
13909 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
13910 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
13913 This can also be done non-destructively with
13914 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
13916 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
13917 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
13918 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
13920 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
13921 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
13923 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
13924 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
13925 @code{References} headers.
13929 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
13930 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
13931 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
13935 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
13936 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
13937 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
13944 @subsection Duplicates
13946 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
13947 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
13948 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
13949 @cindex duplicate mails
13950 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
13951 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
13952 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
13953 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
13954 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
13955 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
13956 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
13957 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
13958 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
13959 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
13960 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
13961 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
13962 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
13964 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
13965 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
13966 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
13967 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
13969 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
13972 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
13973 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
13977 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
13978 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
13979 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
13980 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
13981 (any mail "mail.misc")
13988 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13989 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
13994 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
13995 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
13996 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
13997 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
13998 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
14001 @node Not Reading Mail
14002 @subsection Not Reading Mail
14004 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
14005 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
14006 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
14008 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
14009 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
14010 mail, which should help.
14012 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14013 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14014 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14015 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14016 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14017 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
14018 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
14019 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
14020 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
14021 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
14022 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
14024 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
14025 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
14029 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
14030 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
14032 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
14033 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
14034 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
14036 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
14037 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
14038 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
14039 Spool}). You might notice that only five back ends are listed below;
14040 @code{nnmaildir}'s documentation has not yet been completely
14041 incorporated into this manual. Until it is, you can find it at
14042 @uref{http://multivac.cwru.edu./nnmaildir/}.
14045 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
14046 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
14047 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
14048 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
14049 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
14050 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
14054 @node Unix Mail Box
14055 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
14057 @cindex unix mail box
14059 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14060 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14061 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
14062 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
14063 which group it belongs in.
14065 Virtual server settings:
14068 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
14069 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14070 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
14073 @item nnmbox-active-file
14074 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14075 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
14076 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
14078 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
14079 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14080 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
14081 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
14086 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
14090 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14091 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14092 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
14093 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
14094 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
14096 Virtual server settings:
14099 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
14100 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14101 The name of the rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
14103 @item nnbabyl-active-file
14104 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14105 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
14106 @file{~/.rmail-active}
14108 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14109 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14110 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
14116 @subsubsection Mail Spool
14118 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
14120 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
14121 format. It should be used with some caution.
14123 @vindex nnml-directory
14124 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
14125 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
14126 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
14127 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
14129 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
14132 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
14133 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
14134 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
14135 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
14136 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
14137 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
14138 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
14139 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
14141 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
14142 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
14143 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
14144 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
14146 @cindex self contained nnml servers
14148 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
14149 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14150 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14151 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
14152 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
14153 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
14154 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
14155 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
14158 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
14159 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
14160 them next time it starts.
14162 Virtual server settings:
14165 @item nnml-directory
14166 @vindex nnml-directory
14167 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
14168 The default is the value of `message-directory' (whose default value is
14171 @item nnml-active-file
14172 @vindex nnml-active-file
14173 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
14174 @file{~/Mail/active"}.
14176 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
14177 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
14178 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14179 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}.
14181 @item nnml-get-new-mail
14182 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14183 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
14186 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
14187 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
14188 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
14189 default is @code{nil}.
14191 @item nnml-nov-file-name
14192 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
14193 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
14195 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14196 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14197 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
14199 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
14200 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
14201 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14202 default is @code{nil}.
14204 @item nnml-marks-file-name
14205 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
14206 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
14208 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
14209 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
14210 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
14215 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
14216 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
14217 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
14218 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
14219 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
14220 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
14221 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
14226 @subsubsection MH Spool
14228 @cindex mh-e mail spool
14230 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
14231 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks file.
14232 This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than @code{nnml},
14233 but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
14235 Virtual server settings:
14238 @item nnmh-directory
14239 @vindex nnmh-directory
14240 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
14241 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14244 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
14245 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14246 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
14250 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
14251 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
14252 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
14253 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
14254 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
14255 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
14256 to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
14261 @subsubsection Mail Folders
14263 @cindex mbox folders
14264 @cindex mail folders
14266 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a separate
14267 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
14268 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
14271 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
14273 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
14274 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14275 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14276 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
14277 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
14278 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
14279 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder} directory.
14280 Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to backup, use
14281 @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the
14282 @code{nnfolder} directory).
14284 Virtual server settings:
14287 @item nnfolder-directory
14288 @vindex nnfolder-directory
14289 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
14290 The default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14293 @item nnfolder-active-file
14294 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
14295 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
14297 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
14298 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
14299 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14300 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}
14302 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
14303 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14304 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The default
14307 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
14308 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
14309 @cindex backup files
14310 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
14311 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
14312 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
14313 your @file{.emacs} file:
14316 (defun turn-off-backup ()
14317 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
14319 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
14322 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
14323 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
14324 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
14325 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
14326 extract some information from it before removing it.
14328 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
14329 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
14330 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
14331 default is @code{nil}.
14333 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
14334 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
14335 The extension for @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
14337 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
14338 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
14339 The directory where the @sc{nov} files should be stored. If nil,
14340 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
14342 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
14343 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
14344 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14345 default is @code{nil}.
14347 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
14348 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
14349 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
14351 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
14352 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
14353 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If nil,
14354 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
14359 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
14360 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
14361 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
14362 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
14363 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
14364 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
14367 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
14368 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
14370 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
14371 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
14372 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
14373 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
14374 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
14376 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
14377 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
14378 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
14379 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
14380 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
14381 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
14382 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
14383 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
14386 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
14387 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
14388 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
14389 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
14394 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
14395 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
14396 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
14397 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
14398 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
14399 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
14400 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
14401 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
14402 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
14403 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
14404 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
14405 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
14406 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
14411 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
14412 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
14413 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
14414 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
14415 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
14416 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
14417 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
14418 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
14419 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
14420 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
14421 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
14422 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
14423 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
14424 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
14426 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
14427 filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
14432 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
14433 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
14434 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
14435 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
14436 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
14437 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
14438 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
14439 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
14440 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
14441 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
14442 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
14443 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
14444 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
14445 provided by the active file and overviews.
14447 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
14448 resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
14449 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
14450 tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
14451 the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
14454 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
14455 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
14460 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
14461 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
14462 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
14463 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
14464 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
14465 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
14466 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
14470 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
14471 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
14472 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
14473 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
14474 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
14475 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
14476 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
14477 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
14478 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
14480 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
14481 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
14482 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
14483 friendly mail back end all over.
14487 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
14488 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
14489 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
14490 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
14491 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
14492 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
14493 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to ReiserFS
14494 (@uref{http://www.namesys.com/}) or another non-block-structured
14497 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
14498 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
14499 This means you can skip Gnus's mail splitting if your mail is already
14500 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
14501 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
14502 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
14503 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
14504 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
14505 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
14506 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will undergo
14507 treatment such as duplicate checking.
14509 An article will not necessarily keep the same number across Gnus
14510 sessions; articles are renumbered starting from 1 for each Gnus session
14511 (more precisely, each time you open the @code{nnmaildir} server). This
14512 way, you don't get gaps in your article number ranges, and when entering
14513 large groups, Gnus is likely to give a more accurate article count. The
14514 price is that @code{nnmaildir} doesn't work with the cache or agent.
14515 This will probably be changed in the future.
14517 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
14518 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
14519 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
14520 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
14521 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
14524 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses group
14525 parameters slightly different from those of other mail back ends.
14527 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
14528 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
14529 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
14530 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
14531 parameter to somthing small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
14532 would) to make it use less memory.
14534 Startup and shutdown are likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than
14535 with other back ends. Everything in between is likely to be faster,
14536 depending in part on your filesystem.
14538 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
14539 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
14544 @node Browsing the Web
14545 @section Browsing the Web
14547 @cindex browsing the web
14551 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
14552 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
14553 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
14554 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
14555 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
14556 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
14557 even know what a news group is.
14559 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
14560 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
14561 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
14562 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
14563 you mad in the end.
14565 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
14568 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
14569 interfaces to these sources.
14573 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
14574 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
14575 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
14576 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
14577 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
14578 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
14581 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
14583 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
14584 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
14585 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
14586 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
14587 though, you should be ok.
14589 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
14590 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
14591 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
14592 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
14593 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
14595 @node Archiving Mail
14596 @subsection Archiving Mail
14597 @cindex archiving mail
14598 @cindex backup of mail
14600 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
14601 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
14602 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
14603 marks is fairly simple.
14605 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
14606 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
14609 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
14610 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
14611 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
14612 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
14613 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
14614 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
14615 might interfer with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
14616 before you restore the data.
14618 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
14619 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
14620 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
14621 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
14622 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
14623 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
14624 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
14625 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
14626 is unnecessary in that case.
14629 @subsection Web Searches
14634 @cindex Usenet searches
14635 @cindex searching the Usenet
14637 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
14638 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
14639 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
14640 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
14641 searches without having to use a browser.
14643 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
14644 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
14645 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
14646 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
14647 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
14649 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
14650 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
14651 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
14652 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
14653 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
14654 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
14655 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
14656 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
14657 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
14658 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
14661 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
14662 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
14663 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
14664 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
14665 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
14666 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
14668 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
14669 to use @code{nnweb}.
14671 Virtual server variables:
14676 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
14677 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
14678 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
14681 @vindex nnweb-search
14682 The search string to feed to the search engine.
14684 @item nnweb-max-hits
14685 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
14686 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
14689 @item nnweb-type-definition
14690 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
14691 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
14692 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
14697 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
14701 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
14704 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
14707 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
14711 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
14718 @subsection Slashdot
14722 Slashdot (@uref{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
14723 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
14724 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
14726 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
14727 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
14730 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
14731 '((nnslashdot "")))
14734 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
14735 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
14736 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
14737 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
14738 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
14741 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
14742 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14744 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
14745 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
14746 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
14747 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
14748 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
14749 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
14752 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
14755 @item nnslashdot-threaded
14756 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
14757 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
14758 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
14759 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
14760 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
14761 but much, much slower than untreaded.
14763 @item nnslashdot-login-name
14764 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
14765 The login name to use when posting.
14767 @item nnslashdot-password
14768 @vindex nnslashdot-password
14769 The password to use when posting.
14771 @item nnslashdot-directory
14772 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
14773 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
14774 @samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
14776 @item nnslashdot-active-url
14777 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
14778 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
14779 news articles and comments. The default is
14780 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
14782 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
14783 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
14784 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
14786 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
14788 @item nnslashdot-article-url
14789 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
14790 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
14792 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
14794 @item nnslashdot-threshold
14795 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
14796 The score threshold. The default is -1.
14798 @item nnslashdot-group-number
14799 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
14800 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
14801 updated. The default is 0.
14808 @subsection Ultimate
14810 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
14812 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
14813 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
14814 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
14815 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
14817 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
14818 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
14819 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
14820 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
14821 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
14822 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
14823 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
14825 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
14828 @item nnultimate-directory
14829 @vindex nnultimate-directory
14830 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
14831 @samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
14836 @subsection Web Archive
14838 @cindex Web Archive
14840 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
14841 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
14842 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
14843 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
14846 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
14847 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
14848 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
14849 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
14850 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
14851 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
14852 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
14854 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
14857 @item nnwarchive-directory
14858 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
14859 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
14860 @samp{~/News/warchive/}.
14862 @item nnwarchive-login
14863 @vindex nnwarchive-login
14864 The account name on the web server.
14866 @item nnwarchive-passwd
14867 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
14868 The password for your account on the web server.
14876 Some sites have RDF site summary (RSS)
14877 @uref{http://purl.org/rss/1.0/spec}. It has a quite regular and nice
14878 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
14881 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something
14882 like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET}, then
14885 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
14888 @item nnrss-directory
14889 @vindex nnrss-directory
14890 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
14891 @samp{~/News/rss/}.
14895 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
14896 the summary buffer.
14899 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
14900 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
14902 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
14904 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
14905 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
14908 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
14911 (require 'browse-url)
14913 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
14915 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
14918 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
14919 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
14922 (browse-url (cdr url))
14923 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
14924 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
14926 (eval-after-load "gnus"
14927 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
14928 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
14929 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
14932 @node Customizing w3
14933 @subsection Customizing w3
14939 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
14940 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
14941 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
14943 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
14944 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
14945 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
14948 (eval-after-load "w3"
14950 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
14951 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
14952 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
14953 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
14955 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
14958 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
14959 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
14968 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...),
14969 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap}
14970 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
14971 specify the network address of the server.
14973 @sc{imap} has two properties. First, @sc{imap} can do everything that
14974 POP can, it can hence be viewed as a POP++. Secondly, @sc{imap} is a
14975 mail storage protocol, similar to @sc{nntp} being a news storage
14976 protocol -- however, @sc{imap} offers more features than @sc{nntp}
14977 because news is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
14979 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a POP++, use an imap entry in
14980 @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from the
14981 @sc{imap} server and store them on the local disk. This is not the
14982 usage described in this section--@xref{Mail Sources}.
14984 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
14985 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
14986 manipulate mails stored on the @sc{imap} server. This is the kind of
14987 usage explained in this section.
14989 A server configuration in @code{~/.gnus} with a few @sc{imap} servers
14990 might look something like the following. (Note that for SSL/TLS, you
14991 need external programs and libraries, see below.)
14994 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
14995 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; no special configuration
14996 ; perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:
14998 (nnimap-address "localhost")
14999 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
15000 ; a UW server running on localhost
15002 (nnimap-server-port 143)
15003 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15004 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
15005 ; anonymous public cyrus server:
15006 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
15007 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
15008 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
15009 (nnimap-stream network))
15010 ; a ssl server on a non-standard port:
15012 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
15013 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
15014 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
15017 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
15022 @item nnimap-address
15023 @vindex nnimap-address
15025 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
15026 server name if not specified.
15028 @item nnimap-server-port
15029 @vindex nnimap-server-port
15030 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
15032 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
15035 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15036 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
15039 @item nnimap-list-pattern
15040 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
15041 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
15042 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
15043 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
15044 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
15045 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
15047 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
15048 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
15049 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
15052 Example server specification:
15055 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15056 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
15057 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
15060 @item nnimap-stream
15061 @vindex nnimap-stream
15062 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
15063 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
15064 of SSL/TLS. (@sc{imap} over SSL/TLS is being replaced by STARTTLS, which
15065 can be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
15067 Example server specification:
15070 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15071 (nnimap-stream ssl))
15074 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
15078 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
15079 @samp{imtest} program.
15081 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
15083 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
15084 SSL). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
15087 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Requires OpenSSL (the program
15088 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
15089 library @samp{ssl.el}.
15091 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @sc{imap} connection.
15093 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
15096 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
15097 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
15098 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
15099 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
15100 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
15101 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
15102 restrictions on @sc{imap} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
15103 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
15104 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
15107 @vindex imap-ssl-program
15108 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
15109 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
15110 and nnimap support it too - altough the most recent versions of
15111 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
15112 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
15113 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
15114 to OpenSSL/SSLeay. You also need @samp{ssl.el} (from the W3
15115 distribution, for instance).
15117 @vindex imap-shell-program
15118 @vindex imap-shell-host
15119 For @sc{imap} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
15120 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
15122 @item nnimap-authenticator
15123 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
15125 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
15126 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
15128 Example server specification:
15131 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15132 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
15135 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
15139 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
15140 external program @code{imtest}.
15142 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
15145 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
15146 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
15148 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
15150 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
15152 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
15155 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
15157 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
15158 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
15159 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
15160 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
15161 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
15162 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
15165 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
15166 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
15167 running in circles yet?
15169 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
15170 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
15173 The possible options are:
15178 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
15181 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
15182 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
15183 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
15184 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
15186 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
15191 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
15192 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
15194 If non-nil (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as well),
15195 for other @sc{imap} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
15196 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
15197 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @sc{imap}
15198 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @sc{imap}
15201 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
15202 enable per-user persistant dormant flags, using something like:
15205 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
15206 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
15207 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
15208 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
15211 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
15212 as ticked for other users.
15214 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
15216 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
15218 This variable contain the @sc{imap} search command sent to server when
15219 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
15220 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
15221 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
15223 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
15224 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
15225 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
15226 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
15228 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
15229 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
15231 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
15232 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
15233 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
15239 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
15240 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
15241 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
15242 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
15243 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use IMAP namespace in Gnus.
15248 @node Splitting in IMAP
15249 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
15250 @cindex splitting imap mail
15252 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
15253 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
15254 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
15255 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
15256 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
15260 Here are the variables of interest:
15264 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
15265 @cindex splitting, crosspost
15267 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
15269 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
15270 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
15272 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
15274 @item nnimap-split-inbox
15275 @cindex splitting, inbox
15277 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
15279 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
15280 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
15284 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
15285 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
15288 No nnmail equivalent.
15290 @item nnimap-split-rule
15291 @cindex Splitting, rules
15292 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
15294 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
15297 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
15298 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
15299 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
15300 Neither did I, we need examples.
15303 (setq nnimap-split-rule
15305 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
15306 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
15307 ("INBOX.private" "")))
15310 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
15311 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
15312 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
15314 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
15315 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
15319 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
15322 The first element can also be the symbol @code{junk} to indicate that
15323 matching messages should simply be deleted. Use with care.
15325 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
15326 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
15327 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
15328 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
15330 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
15331 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
15332 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
15333 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
15334 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
15335 them every time you fetch new mail.)
15337 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
15338 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
15339 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
15341 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
15342 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
15343 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
15345 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
15347 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
15348 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
15349 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
15352 (setq nnimap-split-rule
15353 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
15354 ("junk" "From:.*Simon")))
15355 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
15356 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
15357 ("junk" my-junk-func)))))
15360 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
15361 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
15362 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
15363 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
15364 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
15365 group/function elements.
15367 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
15369 @item nnimap-split-predicate
15371 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
15373 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
15374 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
15376 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
15377 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
15378 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
15381 @item nnimap-split-fancy
15382 @cindex splitting, fancy
15383 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
15384 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
15386 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
15387 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
15388 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
15390 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
15391 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
15392 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
15393 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
15398 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
15399 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
15402 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
15406 @node Expiring in IMAP
15407 @subsection Expiring in IMAP
15408 @cindex expiring imap mail
15410 Even though @sc{nnimap} is not a proper @sc{nnmail} derived back end,
15411 it supports most features in regular expiring (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
15412 Unlike splitting in IMAP (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}) it do not clone
15413 the @sc{nnmail} variables (i.e., creating @var{nnimap-expiry-wait})
15414 but reuse the @sc{nnmail} variables. What follows below are the
15415 variables used by the @sc{nnimap} expiry process.
15417 A note on how the expire mark is stored on the @sc{imap} server is
15418 appropriate here as well. The expire mark is translated into a
15419 @sc{imap} client specific mark, @code{gnus-expire}, and stored on the
15420 message. This means that likely only Gnus will understand and treat
15421 the @code{gnus-expire} mark properly, although other clients may allow
15422 you to view client specific flags on the message. It also means that
15423 your server must support permanent storage of client specific flags on
15424 messages. Most do, fortunately.
15428 @item nnmail-expiry-wait
15429 @item nnmail-expiry-wait-function
15431 These variables are fully supported. The expire value can be a
15432 number, the symbol @var{immediate} or @var{never}.
15434 @item nnmail-expiry-target
15436 This variable is supported, and internally implemented by calling the
15437 @sc{nnmail} functions that handle this. It contains an optimization
15438 that if the destination is a IMAP group on the same server, the
15439 article is copied instead of appended (that is, uploaded again).
15443 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
15444 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
15445 @cindex editing imap acls
15446 @cindex Access Control Lists
15447 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
15449 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
15451 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
15452 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
15453 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
15456 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
15457 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
15458 editing window with detailed instructions.
15460 Some possible uses:
15464 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
15465 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
15466 follow the list without subscribing to it.
15468 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
15469 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
15470 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
15474 @node Expunging mailboxes
15475 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
15479 @cindex Manual expunging
15481 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
15483 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
15484 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
15485 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
15487 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
15490 @node A note on namespaces
15491 @subsection A note on namespaces
15492 @cindex IMAP namespace
15495 The IMAP protocol has a concept called namespaces, described by the
15496 following text in the RFC:
15499 5.1.2. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention
15501 By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
15502 which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
15503 the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
15504 types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
15506 For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
15507 newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the USENET
15508 newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes. Thus, the
15509 comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have an mailbox name of
15510 "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name "comp.mail.misc" could refer
15511 to a different object (e.g. a user's private mailbox).
15514 While there is nothing in this text that warrants concern for the IMAP
15515 implementation in Gnus, some servers use namespace prefixes in a way
15516 that does not work with how Gnus uses mailbox names.
15518 Specifically, University of Washington's IMAP server uses mailbox
15519 names like @code{#driver.mbx/read-mail} which are valid only in the
15520 @sc{create} and @sc{append} commands. After the mailbox is created
15521 (or a messages is appended to a mailbox), it must be accessed without
15522 the namespace prefix, i.e @code{read-mail}. Since Gnus do not make it
15523 possible for the user to guarantee that user entered mailbox names
15524 will only be used with the CREATE and APPEND commands, you should
15525 simply not use the namespace prefixed mailbox names in Gnus.
15527 See the UoW @sc{imapd} documentation for the @code{#driver.*/} prefix
15528 for more information on how to use the prefixes. They are a power
15529 tool and should be used only if you are sure what the effects are.
15531 @node Other Sources
15532 @section Other Sources
15534 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
15535 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
15539 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
15540 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
15541 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
15542 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
15543 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
15547 @node Directory Groups
15548 @subsection Directory Groups
15550 @cindex directory groups
15552 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
15553 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
15556 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
15557 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
15558 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
15559 back end to read directories. Big deal.
15561 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
15562 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
15563 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
15564 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
15565 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
15567 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
15569 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
15570 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
15571 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
15572 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
15575 @node Anything Groups
15576 @subsection Anything Groups
15579 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
15580 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
15581 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
15584 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
15585 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
15586 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
15587 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
15588 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
15589 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
15590 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
15591 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
15592 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
15593 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
15596 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
15597 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
15598 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
15599 in the article buffer, just as usual.
15601 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
15602 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
15603 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
15604 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
15606 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
15607 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
15608 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
15609 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
15610 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
15611 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
15612 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
15613 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
15618 @item nneething-map-file-directory
15619 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
15620 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
15621 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
15623 @item nneething-exclude-files
15624 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
15625 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
15626 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
15628 @item nneething-include-files
15629 @vindex nneething-include-files
15630 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
15631 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
15633 @item nneething-map-file
15634 @vindex nneething-map-file
15635 Name of the map files.
15639 @node Document Groups
15640 @subsection Document Groups
15642 @cindex documentation group
15645 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
15646 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
15653 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
15658 The standard Unix mbox file.
15660 @cindex MMDF mail box
15662 The MMDF mail box format.
15665 Several news articles appended into a file.
15668 @cindex rnews batch files
15669 The rnews batch transport format.
15670 @cindex forwarded messages
15673 Forwarded articles.
15676 Netscape mail boxes.
15679 @sc{mime} multipart messages.
15681 @item standard-digest
15682 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
15685 A @sc{mime} digest of messages.
15687 @item lanl-gov-announce
15688 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
15690 @item rfc822-forward
15691 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
15694 The Outlook mail box.
15697 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
15700 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
15703 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
15706 An RFC934-forwarded message.
15712 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
15715 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
15721 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
15722 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
15723 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
15726 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
15727 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
15728 group. And that's it.
15730 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
15731 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
15732 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
15733 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
15734 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
15735 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
15736 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
15737 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
15738 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
15739 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
15741 Virtual server variables:
15744 @item nndoc-article-type
15745 @vindex nndoc-article-type
15746 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
15747 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
15748 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
15749 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
15750 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
15752 @item nndoc-post-type
15753 @vindex nndoc-post-type
15754 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
15755 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
15760 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
15764 @node Document Server Internals
15765 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
15767 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
15768 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
15769 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
15770 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
15772 First, here's an example document type definition:
15776 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
15777 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
15780 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
15781 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
15782 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
15783 types can be defined with very few settings:
15786 @item first-article
15787 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
15788 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
15791 @item article-begin
15792 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
15793 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
15795 @item head-begin-function
15796 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
15799 @item nndoc-head-begin
15800 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
15803 @item nndoc-head-end
15804 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
15805 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
15807 @item body-begin-function
15808 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
15812 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
15815 @item body-end-function
15816 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
15820 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
15823 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
15824 regexp will be totally ignored.
15828 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
15829 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
15830 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
15831 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
15832 something that's palatable for Gnus:
15835 @item prepare-body-function
15836 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
15837 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
15838 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
15840 @item article-transform-function
15841 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
15842 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
15843 body of the article.
15845 @item generate-head-function
15846 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
15847 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
15848 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
15849 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
15853 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
15858 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
15859 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
15860 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
15861 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
15862 (head-end . "^ ?$")
15863 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
15864 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
15865 (subtype digest guess))
15868 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
15869 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
15870 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
15871 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
15872 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
15874 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
15875 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
15876 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
15877 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
15878 traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is called for a given type @code{TYPE}. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document
15879 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
15880 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
15881 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
15882 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
15883 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
15891 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
15892 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
15893 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
15895 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
15896 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
15897 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
15900 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
15901 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
15902 that interested in doing things properly.
15904 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
15905 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
15908 First some terminology:
15913 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
15914 get news and/or mail from.
15917 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
15918 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
15921 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
15925 @item message packets
15926 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
15927 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
15928 default, where @var{x} is a number.
15930 @item response packets
15931 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
15932 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
15933 default, where @var{x} is a number.
15943 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
15944 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
15945 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
15946 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
15949 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
15952 You put the packet in your home directory.
15955 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
15956 the native or secondary server.
15959 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
15960 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
15963 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
15967 You transfer this packet to the server.
15970 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
15973 You then repeat until you die.
15977 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
15978 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
15981 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
15982 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
15983 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
15987 @node SOUP Commands
15988 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
15990 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
15994 @kindex G s b (Group)
15995 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
15996 Pack all unread articles in the current group
15997 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
15998 process/prefix convention.
16001 @kindex G s w (Group)
16002 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
16003 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
16006 @kindex G s s (Group)
16007 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
16008 Send all replies from the replies packet
16009 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
16012 @kindex G s p (Group)
16013 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
16014 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
16017 @kindex G s r (Group)
16018 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
16019 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
16022 @kindex O s (Summary)
16023 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
16024 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
16025 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
16026 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16031 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
16036 @item gnus-soup-directory
16037 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
16038 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
16039 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
16041 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
16042 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
16043 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
16044 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
16046 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
16047 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
16048 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
16049 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
16051 @item gnus-soup-packer
16052 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
16053 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
16054 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
16056 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
16057 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
16058 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
16059 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
16061 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
16062 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
16063 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
16065 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
16066 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
16067 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
16068 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
16074 @subsubsection SOUP Groups
16077 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
16078 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
16079 you can read them at leisure.
16081 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
16085 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
16086 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
16087 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
16088 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
16090 @item nnsoup-directory
16091 @vindex nnsoup-directory
16092 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
16093 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
16095 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
16096 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
16097 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
16098 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
16100 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
16101 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
16102 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
16103 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
16104 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
16106 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
16107 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
16108 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
16109 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
16111 @item nnsoup-active-file
16112 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
16113 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
16114 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
16115 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
16116 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
16118 @item nnsoup-packer
16119 @vindex nnsoup-packer
16120 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
16121 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
16123 @item nnsoup-unpacker
16124 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
16125 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
16126 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
16128 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
16129 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
16130 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
16133 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
16134 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
16135 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
16138 @item nnsoup-always-save
16139 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
16140 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
16146 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
16148 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
16149 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
16150 more for that to happen.
16152 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
16153 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
16154 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
16157 In specific, this is what it does:
16160 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
16161 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
16164 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
16165 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
16166 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
16169 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
16170 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
16171 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
16174 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
16175 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
16176 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
16178 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
16184 @item nngateway-address
16185 @vindex nngateway-address
16186 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
16188 @item nngateway-header-transformation
16189 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
16190 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
16191 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
16192 transformation should be called, and defaults to
16193 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
16194 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
16197 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
16198 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
16199 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
16202 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
16205 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
16208 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
16211 The following pre-defined functions exist:
16213 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
16216 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
16217 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
16218 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
16220 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
16222 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
16223 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
16224 @code{nngateway-address}.
16229 (setq gnus-post-method
16231 "mail2news@@replay.com"
16232 (nngateway-header-transformation
16233 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
16241 So, to use this, simply say something like:
16244 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
16249 @node Combined Groups
16250 @section Combined Groups
16252 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
16256 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
16257 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
16261 @node Virtual Groups
16262 @subsection Virtual Groups
16264 @cindex virtual groups
16265 @cindex merging groups
16267 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
16270 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
16271 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
16272 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
16274 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
16275 regexp to match component groups.
16277 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
16278 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
16279 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
16280 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
16281 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
16282 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
16283 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
16284 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
16286 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
16287 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
16290 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
16293 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
16294 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
16296 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
16297 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
16298 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
16299 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
16302 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
16305 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
16306 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
16307 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
16309 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
16310 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
16311 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
16312 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
16313 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
16315 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
16316 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
16317 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
16319 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
16320 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
16321 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
16322 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
16323 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
16324 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
16325 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
16326 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
16327 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
16328 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
16329 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
16331 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
16332 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
16333 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
16334 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
16335 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
16336 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
16337 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
16339 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
16340 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
16342 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
16343 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
16347 @node Kibozed Groups
16348 @subsection Kibozed Groups
16352 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
16353 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will do this for
16354 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
16355 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
16357 @kindex G k (Group)
16358 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
16361 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
16362 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
16363 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
16364 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
16366 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
16367 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
16368 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
16370 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
16371 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
16372 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
16373 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
16374 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
16375 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
16376 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
16377 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
16379 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
16380 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
16381 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
16382 Stranger things have happened.
16384 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
16385 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
16387 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
16388 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
16389 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
16390 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
16391 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
16392 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
16394 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
16395 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
16398 @node Gnus Unplugged
16399 @section Gnus Unplugged
16404 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
16406 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
16407 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
16408 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
16409 read news. Believe it or not.
16411 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
16412 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
16413 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
16414 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
16415 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
16417 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
16418 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
16419 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
16420 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
16421 reading news on a machine.
16423 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
16424 fact, you don't even have to configure anything.
16426 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
16429 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
16430 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
16431 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
16432 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
16433 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
16434 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
16435 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
16436 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
16437 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
16438 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
16439 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
16444 @subsection Agent Basics
16446 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
16448 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
16449 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
16450 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
16451 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
16453 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
16454 connected to the net continuously.
16456 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
16457 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
16459 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
16464 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
16465 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
16466 already fetched while in this mode.
16469 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
16470 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
16471 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
16472 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode, see (@pxref{Mail
16473 Source Specifiers}).
16476 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
16477 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{g}
16478 to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J
16479 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
16480 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
16483 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
16484 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
16485 then you read the news offline.
16488 And then you go to step 2.
16491 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
16497 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
16498 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
16499 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
16500 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
16501 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
16502 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
16503 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} groups in @code{gnus-select-method} and
16504 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
16507 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
16514 @node Agent Categories
16515 @subsection Agent Categories
16517 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
16518 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
16519 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
16520 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
16521 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
16522 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
16523 you're interested in the articles anyway.
16525 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
16526 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
16527 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
16528 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
16529 managing categories.
16532 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
16533 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
16534 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
16538 @node Category Syntax
16539 @subsubsection Category Syntax
16541 A category consists of two things.
16545 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
16546 are eligible for downloading; and
16549 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
16550 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
16551 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
16554 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
16555 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
16556 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
16557 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
16559 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
16560 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
16561 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
16563 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
16564 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
16565 operators sprinkled in between.
16567 Perhaps some examples are in order.
16569 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
16570 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
16576 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
16577 short (for some value of ``short'').
16579 Here's a more complex predicate:
16588 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
16589 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
16592 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
16593 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
16594 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
16596 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
16597 you want to do, you can write your own.
16601 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
16602 lines; default 100.
16605 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
16606 lines; default 200.
16609 True iff the article has a download score less than
16610 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
16613 True iff the article has a download score greater than
16614 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
16617 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
16618 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
16619 checksum and sees whether articles match.
16628 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
16629 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
16630 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
16633 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
16634 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
16635 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
16636 something along the lines of the following:
16639 (defun my-article-old-p ()
16640 "Say whether an article is old."
16641 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
16642 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
16645 with the predicate then defined as:
16648 (not my-article-old-p)
16651 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
16652 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
16656 (require 'gnus-agent)
16657 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
16658 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
16659 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
16662 and simply specify your predicate as:
16668 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
16669 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
16670 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
16671 just don't give a damn.
16673 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
16674 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
16675 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
16676 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
16677 parameters like so:
16680 (agent-predicate . short)
16683 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
16684 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
16685 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
16687 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
16690 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
16693 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
16694 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
16695 predicate is assumed to be a list.
16698 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
16699 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
16700 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
16701 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
16702 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
16703 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
16705 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
16706 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
16707 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
16708 if it's to be specific to that group.
16710 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
16717 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
16718 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
16724 Category specification
16728 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
16734 Group Parameter specification
16737 (agent-score ("from"
16738 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
16743 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
16749 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
16756 Category specification
16759 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
16765 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
16769 Group Parameter specification
16772 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
16775 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
16780 Use @code{normal} score files
16782 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
16783 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
16784 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
16785 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
16787 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
16788 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
16789 files for a group, *filtering out* those sections that do not
16790 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
16794 Category Specification
16801 Group Parameter specification
16804 (agent-score . file)
16809 @node Category Buffer
16810 @subsubsection Category Buffer
16812 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
16813 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
16814 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
16816 The following commands are available in this buffer:
16820 @kindex q (Category)
16821 @findex gnus-category-exit
16822 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
16825 @kindex k (Category)
16826 @findex gnus-category-kill
16827 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
16830 @kindex c (Category)
16831 @findex gnus-category-copy
16832 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
16835 @kindex a (Category)
16836 @findex gnus-category-add
16837 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
16840 @kindex p (Category)
16841 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
16842 Edit the predicate of the current category
16843 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
16846 @kindex g (Category)
16847 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
16848 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
16849 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
16852 @kindex s (Category)
16853 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
16854 Edit the download score rule of the current category
16855 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
16858 @kindex l (Category)
16859 @findex gnus-category-list
16860 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
16864 @node Category Variables
16865 @subsubsection Category Variables
16868 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
16869 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
16870 Hook run in category buffers.
16872 @item gnus-category-line-format
16873 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
16874 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
16875 Variables}). Valid elements are:
16879 The name of the category.
16882 The number of groups in the category.
16885 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
16886 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
16887 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
16889 @item gnus-agent-short-article
16890 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
16891 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
16893 @item gnus-agent-long-article
16894 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
16895 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
16897 @item gnus-agent-low-score
16898 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
16899 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
16902 @item gnus-agent-high-score
16903 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
16904 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
16910 @node Agent Commands
16911 @subsection Agent Commands
16913 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
16914 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
16915 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
16919 * Group Agent Commands::
16920 * Summary Agent Commands::
16921 * Server Agent Commands::
16924 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
16925 following incantation:
16927 @cindex gnus-agent-batch
16929 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch
16934 @node Group Agent Commands
16935 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
16939 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
16940 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
16941 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
16942 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
16945 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
16946 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
16947 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
16950 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
16951 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
16952 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
16953 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
16956 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
16957 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
16958 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
16959 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
16962 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
16963 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
16964 Add the current group to an Agent category
16965 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
16966 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16969 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
16970 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
16971 Remove the current group from its category, if any
16972 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
16973 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16976 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
16977 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
16978 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
16984 @node Summary Agent Commands
16985 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
16989 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
16990 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
16991 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
16994 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
16995 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
16996 Remove the downloading mark from the article
16997 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
17000 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
17001 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
17002 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
17005 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
17006 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
17007 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
17010 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
17011 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
17012 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
17013 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
17018 @node Server Agent Commands
17019 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
17023 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
17024 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
17025 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
17026 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
17029 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
17030 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
17031 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
17032 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
17037 @node Agent as Cache
17038 @subsection Agent as Cache
17040 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
17041 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
17042 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
17043 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
17044 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
17045 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
17046 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
17047 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
17048 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
17050 This behaviour can be controlled by @code{gnus-agent-cache}
17051 (@pxref{Agent Variables}).
17054 @subsection Agent Expiry
17056 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
17057 @findex gnus-agent-expire
17058 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
17059 @cindex Agent expiry
17060 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
17063 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
17064 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
17065 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
17066 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
17067 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
17068 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
17070 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} can also be a list of regexp/day pairs.
17071 The regexps will be matched against group names to allow differing
17072 expiry in different groups.
17075 (setq gnus-agent-expire-days
17081 If you use the list form, the last element must always be the default
17082 method---it must always match all groups.
17084 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
17085 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
17086 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
17087 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
17088 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
17090 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
17091 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
17092 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's a special
17093 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} command to fix possible problems.
17095 @node Agent and IMAP
17096 @subsection Agent and IMAP
17098 The Agent work with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
17099 since there are some conceptual differences between @sc{nntp} and
17100 @sc{imap}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
17101 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @sc{imap} Disconnected Mode client.
17103 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
17104 are kept on the @sc{imap} server, rather than in @code{.newsrc} as is the
17105 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
17106 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
17108 Gnus keeps track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
17109 Agent. When you plug back in, Gnus will check if you have any changed
17110 any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the server.
17111 The behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
17113 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
17114 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
17115 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
17116 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
17117 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
17118 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
17120 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
17121 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
17122 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
17123 in the group buffer.
17125 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
17126 expect from a disconnected @sc{imap} client, including:
17131 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
17134 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
17138 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by "pushing"
17139 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
17140 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
17141 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on a article, quit the group and
17142 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
17143 removed from the server when you "synchronize". The queued flag
17144 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
17145 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
17148 @node Outgoing Messages
17149 @subsection Outgoing Messages
17151 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
17152 stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view
17153 them there after posting, and edit them at will.
17155 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
17156 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
17157 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
17158 messages in the draft group.
17162 @node Agent Variables
17163 @subsection Agent Variables
17166 @item gnus-agent-directory
17167 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
17168 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
17169 @file{~/News/agent/}.
17171 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
17172 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
17173 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
17174 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
17175 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
17178 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
17179 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
17180 Hook run when connecting to the network.
17182 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
17183 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
17184 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
17186 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
17187 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
17188 Hook run when after finishing fetching articles.
17190 @item gnus-agent-cache
17191 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
17192 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @sc{nov} and
17193 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
17194 The default is non-nil, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
17196 @item gnus-agent-go-online
17197 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
17198 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
17199 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
17200 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
17201 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
17202 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
17205 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
17206 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
17207 Perhaps not a Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
17208 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
17209 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
17210 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
17211 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
17212 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
17213 is only valid if the Agent is used.
17218 @node Example Setup
17219 @subsection Example Setup
17221 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
17222 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
17223 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
17226 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
17227 ;;; from your ISP's server.
17228 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
17230 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
17231 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
17232 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
17234 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
17235 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
17237 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
17238 ;;; (gnus-agentize) ; The obsolete setting.
17239 ;;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; Now the default.
17242 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
17243 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
17246 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
17247 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
17248 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
17249 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
17250 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
17253 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
17254 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
17255 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
17256 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
17257 back all the killed groups.)
17259 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
17260 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
17261 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
17264 @node Batching Agents
17265 @subsection Batching Agents
17267 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
17268 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
17269 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
17273 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
17277 @node Agent Caveats
17278 @subsection Agent Caveats
17280 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
17281 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
17285 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
17289 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
17291 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is `nil'.
17295 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
17296 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP and also uses the
17297 locally stored articles.
17304 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
17305 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
17306 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
17309 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
17310 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
17311 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
17312 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
17313 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
17315 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
17316 before generating the summary buffer.
17318 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
17319 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
17320 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
17322 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
17323 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
17324 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
17325 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
17328 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
17329 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
17330 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
17331 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
17332 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
17333 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
17334 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
17335 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
17336 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
17337 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
17338 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
17339 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
17340 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
17341 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
17342 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
17343 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
17344 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
17348 @node Summary Score Commands
17349 @section Summary Score Commands
17350 @cindex score commands
17352 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
17353 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
17354 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
17355 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
17356 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
17358 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
17359 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
17360 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
17361 score file the current one.
17363 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
17368 @kindex V s (Summary)
17369 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
17370 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
17373 @kindex V S (Summary)
17374 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
17375 Display the score of the current article
17376 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
17379 @kindex V t (Summary)
17380 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
17381 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
17382 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
17385 @kindex V w (Summary)
17386 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
17387 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
17390 @kindex V R (Summary)
17391 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
17392 Run the current summary through the scoring process
17393 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
17394 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
17395 effect you're having.
17398 @kindex V c (Summary)
17399 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
17400 Make a different score file the current
17401 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
17404 @kindex V e (Summary)
17405 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
17406 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
17407 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
17411 @kindex V f (Summary)
17412 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
17413 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
17414 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
17417 @kindex V F (Summary)
17418 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
17419 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
17420 after editing score files.
17423 @kindex V C (Summary)
17424 @findex gnus-score-customize
17425 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
17426 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
17430 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
17435 @kindex V m (Summary)
17436 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
17437 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
17438 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
17441 @kindex V x (Summary)
17442 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
17443 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
17444 expunge all articles below this score
17445 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
17448 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
17449 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
17452 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
17453 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
17457 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
17458 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
17460 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
17461 keys are available:
17465 Score on the author name.
17468 Score on the subject line.
17471 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
17474 Score on the @code{References} line.
17480 Score on the number of lines.
17483 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
17486 Score on an "extra" header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
17487 if your @sc{nntp} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
17490 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
17491 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
17492 @file{ADAPT} files.)
17501 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
17507 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
17508 what headers you are scoring on.
17520 Substring matching.
17523 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
17552 Greater than number.
17557 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
17558 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
17559 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
17564 Temporary score entry.
17567 Permanent score entry.
17570 Immediately scoring.
17574 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
17575 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
17576 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
17580 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
17581 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
17582 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
17583 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
17585 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
17586 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
17587 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
17588 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
17589 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
17591 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
17592 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
17593 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
17594 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
17595 current score file.
17597 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
17598 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
17599 pretend they are keymaps or not.
17602 @node Group Score Commands
17603 @section Group Score Commands
17604 @cindex group score commands
17606 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
17611 @kindex W f (Group)
17612 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
17613 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
17614 all the time. This command will flush the cache
17615 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
17619 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
17621 @findex gnus-batch-score
17622 @cindex batch scoring
17624 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
17628 @node Score Variables
17629 @section Score Variables
17630 @cindex score variables
17634 @item gnus-use-scoring
17635 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
17636 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
17637 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
17639 @item gnus-kill-killed
17640 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
17641 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
17642 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
17643 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
17644 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
17645 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
17646 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
17648 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
17649 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
17650 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
17651 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
17652 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
17654 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
17655 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
17656 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
17657 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
17659 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
17660 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
17661 @cindex score cache
17662 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
17663 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
17664 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
17665 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
17666 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
17667 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
17670 @item gnus-save-score
17671 @vindex gnus-save-score
17672 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
17673 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
17674 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
17676 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
17677 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
17678 across group visits.
17680 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
17681 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
17682 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
17683 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
17684 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
17685 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
17686 manually entered data.
17688 @item gnus-summary-default-score
17689 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
17690 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
17692 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
17693 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
17694 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
17695 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
17696 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
17697 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
17699 @item gnus-score-over-mark
17700 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
17701 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
17702 default. Default is @samp{+}.
17704 @item gnus-score-below-mark
17705 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
17706 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
17707 default. Default is @samp{-}.
17709 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
17710 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
17711 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
17712 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
17714 Predefined functions available are:
17717 @item gnus-score-find-single
17718 @findex gnus-score-find-single
17719 Only apply the group's own score file.
17721 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
17722 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
17723 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
17724 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
17725 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
17726 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
17727 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
17728 then a regexp match is done.
17730 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
17731 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
17733 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
17734 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
17735 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
17736 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
17738 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
17739 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
17740 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
17741 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
17742 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
17746 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
17747 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
17748 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
17749 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
17750 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
17751 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
17752 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
17755 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
17756 overall score file, you could use the value
17758 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
17759 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
17762 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
17763 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
17764 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
17765 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
17766 are expired. It's 7 by default.
17768 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
17769 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
17770 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
17771 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
17772 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
17773 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
17774 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
17775 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
17777 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
17778 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
17779 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
17781 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
17782 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
17783 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
17784 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
17785 threading---according to the current value of
17786 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
17787 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
17788 simplified in this manner.
17793 @node Score File Format
17794 @section Score File Format
17795 @cindex score file format
17797 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
17798 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
17799 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
17801 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
17805 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
17807 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
17809 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
17811 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
17816 (mark-and-expunge -10)
17820 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
17821 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
17822 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
17823 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
17827 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
17828 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
17830 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
17831 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
17832 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
17834 Six keys are supported by this alist:
17839 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
17840 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
17841 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
17842 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
17843 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
17844 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
17845 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
17846 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
17847 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
17848 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
17849 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
17850 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
17851 to articles that matches these score entries.
17853 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
17854 score entry has one to four elements.
17858 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
17859 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
17863 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
17864 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
17865 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
17866 is successful. If this element is not present, the
17867 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
17868 instead. This is 1000 by default.
17871 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
17872 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
17873 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
17874 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
17875 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
17878 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
17879 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
17880 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
17881 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
17884 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
17885 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
17886 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
17887 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
17888 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
17889 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
17890 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
17891 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
17892 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
17893 instead, if you feel like.
17896 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
17897 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
17898 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
17899 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
17900 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin host,
17901 if your @sc{nntp} server tracks NNTP-Posting-Host in overviews:
17904 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s "NNTP-Posting-Host")
17908 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
17909 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
17911 These predicates are true if
17914 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
17917 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
17918 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
17925 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
17926 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
17927 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
17928 it's not. I think.)
17930 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
17931 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
17932 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
17933 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
17936 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
17937 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
17938 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
17939 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
17940 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
17941 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
17942 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
17946 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
17947 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
17948 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
17949 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
17950 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
17951 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
17952 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
17953 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
17956 @item Head, Body, All
17957 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
17961 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
17962 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
17963 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
17964 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
17965 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
17966 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
17967 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
17971 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
17972 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
17973 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
17974 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
17975 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
17976 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
17977 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
17978 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
17979 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
17980 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
17981 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
17985 @cindex Score File Atoms
17987 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
17988 lower than this number will be marked as read.
17991 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
17992 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
17994 @item mark-and-expunge
17995 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
17996 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
17999 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
18000 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
18001 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
18002 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
18003 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
18006 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
18007 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
18010 @item exclude-files
18011 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
18012 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
18016 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
18017 ignored when handling global score files.
18020 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
18021 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
18022 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
18023 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
18026 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
18027 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
18028 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
18029 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
18031 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
18035 (mark-and-expunge -100)
18038 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
18039 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
18040 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
18041 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
18042 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
18044 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
18045 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
18046 scoring rules exist.
18049 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
18050 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
18051 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
18052 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
18053 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
18054 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
18055 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
18056 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
18057 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
18058 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
18059 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
18063 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
18064 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
18065 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
18066 file for a number of groups.
18069 @cindex local variables
18070 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
18071 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
18072 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
18073 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
18074 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
18078 @node Score File Editing
18079 @section Score File Editing
18081 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
18082 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
18083 with a mode for that.
18085 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
18086 additional commands:
18091 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
18092 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
18093 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
18094 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
18097 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
18098 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
18099 Insert the current date in numerical format
18100 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
18101 you were wondering.
18104 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
18105 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
18106 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
18107 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
18108 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
18113 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
18115 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
18116 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
18118 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
18119 e} to begin editing score files.
18122 @node Adaptive Scoring
18123 @section Adaptive Scoring
18124 @cindex adaptive scoring
18126 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
18127 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
18128 stupidity, to be precise.
18130 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
18131 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
18132 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
18133 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
18134 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
18135 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
18136 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
18137 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
18138 variable to @code{(word line)}.
18140 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
18141 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
18142 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
18143 might look something like this:
18146 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
18147 '((gnus-unread-mark)
18148 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
18149 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
18150 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
18151 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
18152 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
18153 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
18154 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
18155 (gnus-ancient-mark)
18156 (gnus-low-score-mark)
18157 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
18160 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
18161 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
18162 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
18163 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
18164 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
18165 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
18168 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
18169 will be applied to each article.
18171 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
18172 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
18173 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
18174 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
18176 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
18177 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
18178 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
18179 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
18181 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
18182 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
18183 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
18184 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
18186 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
18187 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
18188 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
18189 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
18190 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
18191 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
18193 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
18194 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
18195 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
18196 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
18197 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
18198 aspirins afterwards.)
18200 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
18201 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
18202 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
18204 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
18205 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
18206 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
18208 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
18209 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
18210 let you use different rules in different groups.
18212 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
18213 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
18214 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
18217 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
18218 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
18219 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
18220 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
18221 the length of the match is less than
18222 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
18223 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
18226 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
18227 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
18228 headers. If you adapt on words, the
18229 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
18230 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
18233 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
18234 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
18235 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
18236 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
18237 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
18240 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
18241 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
18242 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
18243 score with 30 points.
18245 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
18246 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
18247 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
18248 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
18249 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
18251 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
18252 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
18253 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
18254 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
18255 variable defaults til @code{nil}.
18257 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
18258 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
18259 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
18260 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
18262 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
18263 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
18264 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
18265 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
18267 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
18268 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
18269 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
18270 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
18271 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
18273 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
18274 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
18275 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
18277 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
18278 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
18279 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
18280 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
18283 @node Home Score File
18284 @section Home Score File
18286 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
18287 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
18288 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
18289 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
18291 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
18292 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
18293 could perhaps use the same home score file.
18295 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
18296 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
18301 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
18305 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
18306 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
18310 A list. The elements in this list can be:
18314 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
18315 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
18318 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
18319 the home score file.
18322 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
18325 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
18330 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
18333 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18334 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
18337 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
18338 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
18340 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
18342 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18343 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
18346 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
18347 Other functions include
18350 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
18351 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
18352 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
18353 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
18357 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
18358 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
18359 their own home score files:
18362 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18363 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
18364 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
18365 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
18366 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
18369 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
18370 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
18371 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
18372 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
18373 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
18375 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
18376 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
18377 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
18378 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
18379 precedence over this variable.
18382 @node Followups To Yourself
18383 @section Followups To Yourself
18385 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
18386 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
18387 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
18388 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
18389 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
18390 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
18394 @item gnus-score-followup-article
18395 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
18396 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
18399 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
18400 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
18401 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
18405 @vindex message-sent-hook
18406 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
18407 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
18409 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
18413 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
18414 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
18418 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
18419 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
18422 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
18423 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
18428 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
18432 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
18433 is system-dependent.
18436 @node Scoring On Other Headers
18437 @section Scoring On Other Headers
18438 @cindex scoring on other headers
18440 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
18441 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
18442 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
18443 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
18444 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
18446 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
18447 mail groups, you have greater control. In the @pxref{To From
18448 Newsgroups} section of the manual, it's explained in greater detail what
18449 this mechanism does, but here's a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on
18450 how to allow scoring on the @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
18452 Put the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
18455 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
18456 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
18459 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
18460 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
18461 time if you have much mail.
18463 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
18464 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
18470 @section Scoring Tips
18471 @cindex scoring tips
18477 @cindex scoring crossposts
18478 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
18479 the @code{Xref} header.
18481 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
18484 @item Multiple crossposts
18485 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
18486 more than, say, 3 groups:
18489 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
18493 @item Matching on the body
18494 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
18495 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
18496 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
18497 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
18498 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
18499 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
18500 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
18503 @item Marking as read
18504 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
18505 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
18506 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
18510 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
18512 @item Negated character classes
18513 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
18514 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
18515 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
18519 @node Reverse Scoring
18520 @section Reverse Scoring
18521 @cindex reverse scoring
18523 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
18524 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
18525 like this in your score file:
18529 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
18534 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
18535 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
18538 @node Global Score Files
18539 @section Global Score Files
18540 @cindex global score files
18542 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
18543 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
18544 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
18546 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
18547 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
18548 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
18550 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
18551 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
18552 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
18553 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
18554 files are applicable to which group.
18556 To use the score file
18557 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
18558 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
18562 (setq gnus-global-score-files
18563 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
18564 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
18567 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
18569 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
18570 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
18571 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
18572 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
18574 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
18575 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
18577 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
18578 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
18579 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
18580 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
18581 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
18582 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
18584 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
18590 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
18592 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
18594 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
18596 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
18597 lowered out of existence.
18599 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
18600 articles completely.
18603 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
18604 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
18605 old articles for a long time.
18608 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
18609 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
18610 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
18611 holding our breath yet?
18615 @section Kill Files
18618 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
18619 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
18620 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
18622 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
18623 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
18624 files into score files.
18626 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
18627 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
18628 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
18629 that isn't a very good idea.
18631 Normal kill files look like this:
18634 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18635 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
18639 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
18640 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
18642 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
18643 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
18646 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
18651 @kindex M-k (Summary)
18652 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
18653 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
18656 @kindex M-K (Summary)
18657 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
18658 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
18661 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
18666 @kindex M-k (Group)
18667 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
18668 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
18671 @kindex M-K (Group)
18672 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
18673 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
18676 Kill file variables:
18679 @item gnus-kill-file-name
18680 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
18681 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
18682 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
18683 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
18684 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
18685 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
18687 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
18688 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
18689 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
18690 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
18693 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
18694 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
18695 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
18696 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
18697 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
18698 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
18699 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
18700 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
18701 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
18703 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
18704 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
18705 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
18710 @node Converting Kill Files
18711 @section Converting Kill Files
18713 @cindex converting kill files
18715 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
18716 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
18717 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
18720 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
18721 You can fetch it from
18722 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
18724 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
18725 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
18726 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
18734 GroupLens (@uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/}) is a
18735 collaborative filtering system that helps you work together with other
18736 people to find the quality news articles out of the huge volume of
18737 news articles generated every day.
18739 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
18740 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
18741 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
18742 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
18743 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
18744 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
18745 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
18746 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
18749 @sc{Note:} Unfortunately the GroupLens system seems to have shut down,
18750 so this section is mostly of historical interest.
18753 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
18754 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
18755 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
18756 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
18760 @node Using GroupLens
18761 @subsection Using GroupLens
18763 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
18765 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
18766 better bit in town at the moment.
18768 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
18772 @item gnus-use-grouplens
18773 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
18774 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
18775 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
18777 @item grouplens-pseudonym
18778 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
18779 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
18780 with the Better Bit Bureau.
18782 @item grouplens-newsgroups
18783 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
18784 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
18788 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
18789 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
18790 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
18791 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
18792 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
18793 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
18796 @node Rating Articles
18797 @subsection Rating Articles
18799 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
18800 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
18801 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
18802 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
18805 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
18810 @kindex r (GroupLens)
18811 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
18812 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
18815 @kindex k (GroupLens)
18816 @findex grouplens-score-thread
18817 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
18818 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
18819 threads in rec.humor.
18823 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
18824 the score of the article you're reading.
18829 @kindex n (GroupLens)
18830 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
18831 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
18834 @kindex , (GroupLens)
18835 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
18836 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
18840 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
18841 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
18844 @node Displaying Predictions
18845 @subsection Displaying Predictions
18847 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
18848 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
18849 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
18850 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
18851 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
18853 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
18854 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
18855 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
18856 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
18857 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
18858 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
18859 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
18860 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
18861 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
18862 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
18863 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
18864 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
18865 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
18867 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
18868 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
18869 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
18870 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
18872 The following are valid values for that variable.
18875 @item prediction-spot
18876 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
18879 @item confidence-interval
18880 A numeric confidence interval.
18882 @item prediction-bar
18883 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
18885 @item confidence-bar
18886 Numerical confidence.
18888 @item confidence-spot
18889 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
18891 @item prediction-num
18892 Plain-old numeric value.
18894 @item confidence-plus-minus
18895 Prediction +/- confidence.
18900 @node GroupLens Variables
18901 @subsection GroupLens Variables
18905 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
18906 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
18907 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
18908 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%)
18911 @item grouplens-bbb-host
18912 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
18915 @item grouplens-bbb-port
18916 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
18918 @item grouplens-score-offset
18919 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
18920 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
18923 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
18924 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
18925 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
18930 @node Advanced Scoring
18931 @section Advanced Scoring
18933 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
18934 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
18935 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
18936 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
18937 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
18939 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
18943 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
18944 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
18945 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
18949 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
18950 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
18952 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
18953 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
18954 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
18955 non-@code{nil} value.
18957 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
18958 operator, and various match operators.
18965 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
18966 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
18967 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
18972 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
18973 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
18974 then this operator will return @code{false}.
18979 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
18980 logical negation of the value of its argument.
18984 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
18985 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
18986 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
18987 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
18988 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
18989 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
18990 the ancestry you want to go.
18992 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
18993 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
18994 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
18995 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
18996 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
18999 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
19000 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
19002 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
19003 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
19006 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
19007 when he's talking about Gnus:
19011 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19012 ("subject" "Gnus"))
19018 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
19022 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19029 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
19030 really don't want to read what he's written:
19034 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19035 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
19039 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
19040 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
19041 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
19048 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
19049 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
19050 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
19051 ("body" "white.*socks"))
19055 The possibilities are endless.
19058 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
19059 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
19061 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
19062 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
19063 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
19064 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
19065 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
19066 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
19067 @samp{subject}) first.
19069 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
19070 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
19081 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
19082 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
19088 ("subject" "Gnus")))
19095 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
19096 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
19101 @section Score Decays
19102 @cindex score decays
19105 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
19106 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
19107 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
19108 use them in any sensible way.
19110 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
19111 @findex gnus-decay-score
19112 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
19113 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
19114 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
19115 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
19116 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
19117 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
19118 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
19119 definition of that function:
19122 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
19124 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
19125 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
19128 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
19130 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
19132 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
19135 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
19136 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
19137 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
19138 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
19142 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
19145 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
19148 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
19152 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
19153 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
19154 the new score, which should be an integer.
19156 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
19157 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
19162 @include message.texi
19163 @chapter Emacs MIME
19164 @include emacs-mime.texi
19166 @include sieve.texi
19176 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
19177 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
19178 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
19179 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
19180 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
19181 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
19182 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
19183 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
19184 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
19185 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
19186 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
19187 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
19188 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
19189 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
19190 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
19191 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
19192 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
19193 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
19194 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
19198 @node Process/Prefix
19199 @section Process/Prefix
19200 @cindex process/prefix convention
19202 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
19203 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
19205 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
19206 command to be performed on.
19210 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
19211 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
19212 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
19213 with the current one.
19215 @vindex transient-mark-mode
19216 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
19217 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
19219 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
19220 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
19223 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
19224 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
19226 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
19229 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
19230 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
19231 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
19232 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
19234 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
19235 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
19236 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
19237 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
19238 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
19239 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
19240 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
19241 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
19243 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
19244 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
19245 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
19246 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
19247 expirable, you could say `M P b M-& E'.
19251 @section Interactive
19252 @cindex interaction
19256 @item gnus-novice-user
19257 @vindex gnus-novice-user
19258 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
19259 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
19260 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
19261 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
19264 @item gnus-expert-user
19265 @vindex gnus-expert-user
19266 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
19267 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
19268 matter how strange.
19270 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
19271 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
19272 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
19273 is @code{t} by default.
19275 @item gnus-interactive-exit
19276 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
19277 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
19282 @node Symbolic Prefixes
19283 @section Symbolic Prefixes
19284 @cindex symbolic prefixes
19286 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
19287 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
19288 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
19289 rule of 900 to the current article.
19291 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
19292 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
19293 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
19294 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
19295 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
19296 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
19297 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
19299 @kindex M-i (Summary)
19300 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
19301 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
19302 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
19303 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
19304 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
19305 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
19306 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
19307 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
19309 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
19310 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
19311 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
19313 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
19317 @node Formatting Variables
19318 @section Formatting Variables
19319 @cindex formatting variables
19321 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
19322 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
19323 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
19324 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
19325 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
19328 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
19329 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
19330 lots of percentages everywhere.
19333 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
19334 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
19335 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
19336 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
19337 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
19338 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
19339 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
19340 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
19343 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
19344 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
19345 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
19346 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
19347 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
19348 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
19349 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
19350 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
19352 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
19353 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
19355 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
19356 @findex gnus-update-format
19357 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
19358 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
19359 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
19360 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
19364 @node Formatting Basics
19365 @subsection Formatting Basics
19367 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
19368 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
19369 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
19371 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
19372 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
19373 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
19374 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
19375 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
19378 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
19379 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
19380 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
19381 less than 4 characters wide.
19383 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
19384 @samp{%&user-date;}.
19387 @node Mode Line Formatting
19388 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
19390 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
19391 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
19392 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
19393 with the following two differences:
19398 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
19401 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
19402 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
19403 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
19404 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
19405 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
19406 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
19407 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
19412 @node Advanced Formatting
19413 @subsection Advanced Formatting
19415 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
19416 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
19417 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
19418 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
19420 These are the valid modifiers:
19425 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
19429 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
19434 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
19437 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
19442 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
19445 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
19448 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
19451 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
19457 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
19462 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
19463 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
19464 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
19465 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
19466 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
19467 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
19468 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
19470 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
19471 last operation, padding.
19473 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
19474 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
19475 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
19476 @xref{Compilation}.
19479 @node User-Defined Specs
19480 @subsection User-Defined Specs
19482 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
19483 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
19484 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
19485 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
19486 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
19487 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
19488 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
19489 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
19490 should protect against that.
19492 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
19493 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
19495 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
19496 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
19497 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
19498 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
19502 @node Formatting Fonts
19503 @subsection Formatting Fonts
19505 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
19506 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
19507 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
19508 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
19511 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
19512 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
19513 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
19514 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
19515 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
19516 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
19518 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
19519 special @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}.
19520 If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on.
19521 The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or
19522 symbols naming functions that return a string. When the mouse passes
19523 over text with this property set, a balloon window will appear and
19524 display the string. Please refer to @ref{(emacs)Help Echo} (in GNU
19525 Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in XEmacs) for
19526 more information on this. (For technical reasons, the guillemets have
19527 been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this paragraph.)
19529 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
19532 ;; Create three face types.
19533 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
19534 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
19536 ;; We want the article count to be in
19537 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
19538 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
19539 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
19541 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
19542 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
19544 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
19545 (setq gnus-group-line-format
19546 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
19549 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
19550 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
19552 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
19553 mode-line variables.
19555 @node Positioning Point
19556 @subsection Positioning Point
19558 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
19559 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
19560 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
19562 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
19564 @findex gnus-goto-colon
19565 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
19566 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
19568 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
19569 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%C} specifier. If you
19570 put a @samp{%C} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
19575 @subsection Tabulation
19577 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
19578 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
19579 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
19580 about lining up the following text afterwards.
19582 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs--@samp{%=}. There are two
19583 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
19585 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
19586 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
19587 This is the soft tabulator.
19589 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
19590 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
19591 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
19594 @node Wide Characters
19595 @subsection Wide Characters
19597 Proportional fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
19598 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
19599 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
19601 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
19602 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
19603 these coutries, that's not true.
19605 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
19606 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
19607 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
19608 prettieer. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
19612 @node Window Layout
19613 @section Window Layout
19614 @cindex window layout
19616 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
19618 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
19619 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
19620 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
19621 @code{t} by default.
19623 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
19624 glitches. Use at your own peril.
19626 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
19627 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
19628 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
19631 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
19632 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
19633 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
19637 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
19638 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
19639 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
19640 possible names is listed below.
19642 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
19643 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
19646 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
19650 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
19651 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
19652 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
19653 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
19654 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
19655 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
19656 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
19657 size spec per split.
19659 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
19660 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
19661 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
19662 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
19663 present) gets focus.
19665 Here's a more complicated example:
19668 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
19669 (summary 0.25 point)
19670 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
19674 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
19675 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
19676 occupy, not a percentage.
19678 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
19679 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
19680 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
19681 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
19682 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
19685 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
19688 (article (horizontal 1.0
19693 (summary 0.25 point)
19698 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
19699 @code{horizontal} thingie?
19701 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
19702 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
19703 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
19704 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
19705 the screen is to be given to this strip.
19707 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
19708 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
19709 lines from the splits.
19711 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
19715 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
19716 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
19717 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
19718 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
19719 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
19720 size = number | frame-params
19721 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
19724 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
19725 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
19726 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
19727 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
19729 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
19730 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
19731 @cindex window height
19732 @cindex window width
19733 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
19734 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
19735 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
19736 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
19737 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
19738 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
19740 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
19741 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
19742 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
19743 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
19745 @findex gnus-configure-frame
19746 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
19747 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
19748 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
19749 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
19750 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
19751 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
19752 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
19753 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
19754 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
19755 configuration list.
19758 (gnus-configure-frame
19762 (article 0.3 point))
19770 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
19771 @code{frame} split:
19774 (gnus-configure-frame
19777 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
19779 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
19780 (user-position . t)
19781 (left . -1) (top . 1))
19786 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
19787 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
19788 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
19789 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
19790 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
19791 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
19792 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
19793 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
19795 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
19796 be found in its default value.
19798 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
19799 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
19800 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
19804 (message (horizontal 1.0
19805 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
19807 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
19812 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
19813 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
19814 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
19819 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
19820 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
19821 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
19822 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
19823 (name . "Message"))
19824 (message 1.0 point))))
19827 @findex gnus-add-configuration
19828 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
19829 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
19830 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
19831 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
19834 (gnus-add-configuration
19835 '(article (vertical 1.0
19837 (summary .25 point)
19841 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
19842 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
19843 Gnus has been loaded.
19845 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
19846 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
19847 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
19848 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
19849 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
19851 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
19852 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
19853 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
19856 @subsection Example Window Configurations
19860 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
19861 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
19876 (gnus-add-configuration
19879 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
19881 (summary 0.16 point)
19884 (gnus-add-configuration
19887 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
19888 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
19894 @node Faces and Fonts
19895 @section Faces and Fonts
19900 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
19901 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
19902 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
19907 @section Compilation
19908 @cindex compilation
19909 @cindex byte-compilation
19911 @findex gnus-compile
19913 Remember all those line format specification variables?
19914 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
19915 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
19916 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
19917 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
19918 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
19921 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
19922 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
19923 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
19924 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
19925 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
19926 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
19927 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
19931 @section Mode Lines
19934 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
19935 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
19936 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
19937 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
19938 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
19939 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
19940 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
19943 @cindex display-time
19945 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
19946 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
19947 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
19948 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
19949 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
19950 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
19951 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
19952 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
19955 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
19957 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
19958 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
19960 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
19961 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
19962 (length display-time-string)))))
19965 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
19966 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
19967 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
19968 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
19969 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
19972 @node Highlighting and Menus
19973 @section Highlighting and Menus
19975 @cindex highlighting
19978 @vindex gnus-visual
19979 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
19980 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
19981 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
19984 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
19985 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
19988 @item group-highlight
19989 Do highlights in the group buffer.
19990 @item summary-highlight
19991 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
19992 @item article-highlight
19993 Do highlights in the article buffer.
19995 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
19997 Create menus in the group buffer.
19999 Create menus in the summary buffers.
20001 Create menus in the article buffer.
20003 Create menus in the browse buffer.
20005 Create menus in the server buffer.
20007 Create menus in the score buffers.
20009 Create menus in all buffers.
20012 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
20013 buffers, you could say something like:
20016 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
20019 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
20022 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
20025 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
20026 in all Gnus buffers.
20028 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
20031 @item gnus-mouse-face
20032 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
20033 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
20034 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
20038 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
20042 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
20043 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
20044 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
20046 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
20047 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
20048 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
20050 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
20051 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
20052 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
20054 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
20055 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
20056 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
20058 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
20059 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
20060 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
20062 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
20063 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
20064 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
20075 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
20076 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
20077 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
20078 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
20079 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
20083 @vindex gnus-carpal
20084 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
20085 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
20086 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
20091 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
20092 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
20093 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
20095 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
20096 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
20097 Face used on buttons.
20099 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
20100 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
20101 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
20103 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
20104 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
20105 Buttons in the group buffer.
20107 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
20108 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
20109 Buttons in the summary buffer.
20111 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
20112 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
20113 Buttons in the server buffer.
20115 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
20116 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
20117 Buttons in the browse buffer.
20120 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
20121 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
20122 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
20130 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
20131 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
20132 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
20133 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
20134 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
20136 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
20137 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
20138 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
20140 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
20141 been idle for thirty minutes:
20144 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
20147 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
20151 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
20154 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
20155 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
20156 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
20158 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
20159 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
20160 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
20161 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
20163 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
20164 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
20165 @var{idle} minutes.
20167 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
20168 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
20171 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
20172 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
20173 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
20175 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
20176 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
20177 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
20178 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
20180 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
20181 your @file{.gnus} file:
20183 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
20185 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
20188 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
20189 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
20190 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
20191 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
20192 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
20193 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
20194 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
20195 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
20196 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
20197 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
20198 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
20200 @findex gnus-demon-init
20201 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
20202 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
20203 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
20204 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
20205 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
20207 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
20208 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
20209 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
20218 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
20219 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
20221 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
20222 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
20223 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
20224 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
20227 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
20228 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
20229 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
20230 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
20232 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
20233 this will make spam disappear.
20235 There are some variables to customize, of course:
20238 @item gnus-use-nocem
20239 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
20240 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
20243 @item gnus-nocem-groups
20244 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
20245 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
20246 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
20247 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
20249 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
20250 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
20251 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
20252 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
20253 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo"
20254 "hweede@@snafu.de")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
20256 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at
20257 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
20259 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
20260 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
20261 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
20262 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
20263 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
20264 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
20265 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
20266 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
20267 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
20268 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
20270 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
20271 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
20274 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
20277 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
20278 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
20281 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
20284 The specs are applied left-to-right.
20287 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
20288 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
20290 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
20291 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
20292 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
20293 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
20295 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
20296 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
20299 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
20301 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
20309 This might be dangerous, though.
20311 @item gnus-nocem-directory
20312 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
20313 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
20314 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
20316 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
20317 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
20318 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
20319 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
20320 might then see old spam.
20322 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
20323 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
20324 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
20325 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
20326 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
20329 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
20330 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
20331 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
20332 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
20336 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
20337 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
20338 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
20339 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
20346 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
20347 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
20348 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
20350 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
20351 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
20352 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
20353 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
20354 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
20355 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
20356 @code{undo} function.
20358 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
20359 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
20360 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
20361 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
20362 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
20363 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
20364 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
20365 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
20366 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
20367 never be totally undoable.
20369 @findex gnus-undo-mode
20370 @vindex gnus-use-undo
20372 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
20373 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
20374 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
20375 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
20379 @node Predicate Specifiers
20380 @section Predicate Specifiers
20381 @cindex predicate specifiers
20383 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
20384 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
20385 to type all that much.
20387 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
20392 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
20393 gnus-article-unread-p)
20396 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
20397 functions all take one parameter.
20399 @findex gnus-make-predicate
20400 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
20401 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
20402 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
20407 @section Moderation
20410 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
20411 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
20412 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
20415 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
20419 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
20422 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
20424 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
20429 You split your incoming mail by matching on
20430 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
20431 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
20434 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
20435 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
20438 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
20439 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
20443 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
20446 (setq gnus-moderated-list
20447 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
20451 @node Image Enhancements
20452 @section Image Enhancements
20454 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21, is able to display pictures and stuff, so
20455 Gnus has taken advantage of that.
20458 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
20459 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
20460 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
20461 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
20462 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
20475 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
20476 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
20477 over your shoulder as you read news.
20480 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
20481 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
20482 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
20483 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
20484 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
20489 @subsubsection Picon Basics
20491 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
20500 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
20501 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
20502 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
20503 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
20504 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
20505 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
20506 @code{GIF} formats.
20509 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20510 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
20511 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
20512 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
20513 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
20515 @vindex gnus-picons-database
20516 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
20517 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
20518 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
20519 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
20520 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
20522 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
20523 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
20526 @node Picon Requirements
20527 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
20529 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must have @code{x} support
20530 compiled into XEmacs. To display color picons which are much nicer
20531 than the black & white one, you also need one of @code{xpm} or
20532 @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
20534 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
20535 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
20536 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
20537 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
20538 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
20539 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
20542 @subsubsection Easy Picons
20544 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
20545 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
20548 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
20549 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
20552 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
20553 containing the Picons databases.
20555 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
20558 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20559 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
20564 @subsubsection Hard Picons
20572 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
20573 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
20574 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
20575 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
20576 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
20581 @item gnus-picons-database
20582 @vindex gnus-picons-database
20583 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
20584 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
20585 subdirectories. This is only useful if
20586 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
20587 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
20589 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20590 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20591 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
20592 engine is @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
20593 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
20594 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
20595 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
20597 @item gnus-picons-display-where
20598 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
20599 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
20600 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
20601 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
20602 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
20603 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
20604 routines---@pxref{Window Layout}.
20606 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
20607 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
20608 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
20613 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
20614 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
20616 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
20617 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
20620 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
20622 @item gnus-article-display-picons
20623 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
20624 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
20625 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
20627 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
20628 @findex gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
20629 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
20630 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the function name, not @code{xface})
20636 @node Picon Useless Configuration
20637 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
20645 The following variables offer further control over how things are
20646 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
20647 don't need to worry about.
20651 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
20652 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
20653 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
20654 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
20656 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
20657 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
20658 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
20659 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
20661 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
20662 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
20663 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
20664 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
20665 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
20667 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
20668 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
20669 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
20670 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
20671 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
20672 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
20673 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
20674 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
20676 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
20677 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
20678 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
20679 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
20680 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
20682 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
20683 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
20684 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
20685 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
20686 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
20687 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
20688 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
20690 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
20691 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
20692 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
20693 Defaults to @code{nil}.
20695 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
20696 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
20697 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
20698 Defaults to @code{t}.
20700 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
20701 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
20702 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
20703 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
20705 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
20706 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
20707 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
20709 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
20710 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
20711 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
20712 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
20714 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
20715 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the default.
20717 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
20718 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
20719 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
20720 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
20721 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
20722 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
20723 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
20724 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
20735 @subsection Smileys
20740 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
20745 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
20746 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
20748 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
20749 @file{.gnus.el} file:
20752 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
20755 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
20756 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
20757 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
20758 text and maps that to file names.
20760 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
20761 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
20762 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
20763 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
20764 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
20765 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
20767 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
20768 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
20770 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
20771 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
20772 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
20774 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
20775 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
20779 @item smiley-data-directory
20780 @vindex smiley-data-directory
20781 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
20783 @item smiley-flesh-color
20784 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
20785 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
20787 @item smiley-features-color
20788 @vindex smiley-features-color
20789 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
20791 @item smiley-tongue-color
20792 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
20793 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
20795 @item smiley-circle-color
20796 @vindex smiley-circle-color
20797 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
20799 @item smiley-mouse-face
20800 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
20801 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
20810 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
20811 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
20812 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
20816 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
20817 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
20818 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
20819 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
20827 Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
20828 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
20829 have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
20830 Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
20832 The variable that controls this is the
20833 @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
20834 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
20835 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
20836 If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
20837 the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
20839 The default action under Emacs 20 is to fork off the @code{display}
20840 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
20841 the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
20842 like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux system.} to
20845 Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
20846 action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
20847 nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
20848 will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
20849 support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
20850 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
20851 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
20852 like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
20854 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
20857 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
20858 easier insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages.
20860 @findex gnus-random-x-face
20861 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files
20862 in @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
20863 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
20864 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
20865 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big.
20867 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
20868 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
20869 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
20871 Here's how you would typically use the former function. Put something
20872 like the folllowing in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
20875 (setq message-required-news-headers
20876 (nconc message-required-news-headers
20877 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
20880 Using the latter function would be something like this:
20883 (setq message-required-news-headers
20884 (nconc message-required-news-headers
20885 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
20886 (gnus-x-face-from-file
20887 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
20892 @subsection Toolbar
20902 @item gnus-use-toolbar
20903 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
20904 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
20905 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
20906 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
20908 @item gnus-group-toolbar
20909 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
20910 The toolbar in the group buffer.
20912 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
20913 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
20914 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
20916 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
20917 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
20918 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
20924 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
20927 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
20928 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
20929 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
20930 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
20931 unusual directory structure.
20933 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
20934 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
20935 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
20936 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
20938 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
20939 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
20940 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
20941 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
20942 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
20943 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
20945 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
20946 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
20947 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
20961 @node Fuzzy Matching
20962 @section Fuzzy Matching
20963 @cindex fuzzy matching
20965 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
20966 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
20968 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
20969 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
20970 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
20972 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
20973 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
20974 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
20975 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
20976 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
20979 @node Thwarting Email Spam
20980 @section Thwarting Email Spam
20984 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
20986 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
20987 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
20988 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
20989 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
20990 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
20991 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
20992 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
20993 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
20996 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
20997 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
20998 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
20999 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
21000 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
21001 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
21003 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
21006 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
21007 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
21008 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
21009 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
21010 * Filtering Spam Using spam.el::
21011 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics (spam-stat.el)::
21014 @node The problem of spam
21015 @subsection The problem of spam
21017 @cindex spam filtering approaches
21018 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
21020 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21022 First, some background on spam.
21024 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
21025 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it exists
21026 because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail, so only
21027 a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to make it
21028 worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most common
21029 spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for further
21030 spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers}, but terms like
21031 @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, and @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
21033 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
21034 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
21035 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
21036 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
21037 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
21038 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
21039 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
21040 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
21041 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
21044 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering. If you get 200
21045 spam messages per day from @email{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you
21046 block @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about
21047 @samp{VIAGRA}, you discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the
21048 message. This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate
21049 e-mail. For instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest
21050 has been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it
21051 @strong{contained} words that were common in spam messages.
21052 Nevertheless, in isolated cases, with great care, direct filtering of
21053 mail can be useful.
21055 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
21056 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
21057 @code{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @samp{X} in
21058 China, Ghana, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
21059 @code{N} systems enter @samp{X} or the spam e-mail from @samp{X} into
21060 a database. The criteria for spam detection vary - it may be the
21061 number of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When
21062 a user of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a
21063 message is spam, he consults one of those @code{N} systems.
21065 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
21066 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
21067 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
21068 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
21069 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
21070 sending spam, and their web sites have been shut down for some time
21071 because of the incident.
21073 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
21074 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
21075 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
21076 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
21077 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
21078 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
21079 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
21080 to store the database of spam analyses.
21082 @node Anti-Spam Basics
21083 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
21087 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21089 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
21090 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
21092 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
21093 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
21094 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
21095 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
21096 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
21097 part of the mail address.)
21100 (setq message-default-news-headers
21101 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
21104 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
21105 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
21110 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
21111 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
21112 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
21118 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
21119 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
21120 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
21121 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
21123 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @sc{smtp} server
21124 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
21125 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
21126 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
21127 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
21128 your fancy split rule in this way:
21133 (to "larsi" "misc")
21137 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
21138 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
21139 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
21140 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
21141 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
21143 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
21144 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
21145 at @* @uref{http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html}.
21146 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
21147 cosmic balance somewhat.
21149 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
21150 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
21151 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
21152 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
21157 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
21158 @cindex SpamAssassin
21159 @cindex Vipul's Razor
21162 The days where the hints in the previous section was sufficient in
21163 avoiding spam is coming to an end. There are many tools out there
21164 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
21165 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
21166 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
21167 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
21168 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
21170 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
21171 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
21172 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
21173 Specifiers}) follows.
21177 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
21180 :postscript "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
21183 Once you managed to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
21184 the mail contain e.g. a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
21185 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
21188 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
21192 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
21195 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
21196 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
21200 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
21201 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
21202 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
21203 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
21206 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
21208 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
21210 (let ((buf (or (get-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
21211 (get-buffer " *nnml move*"))))
21213 (progn (message "Oops, cannot find message buffer") nil)
21215 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
21216 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
21220 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
21221 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
21222 spam. And here is the nifty function:
21225 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
21226 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
21228 (gnus-summary-show-raw-article)
21229 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d")
21230 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
21234 @subsection Hashcash
21237 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
21238 costly for each message they send. This has the obvious drawback that
21239 you cannot rely on that everyone in the world uses this technique,
21240 since it is not part of the internet standards, but it may be useful
21241 in smaller communities.
21243 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
21244 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
21245 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
21246 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
21247 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
21248 instead requires that everyone you communicate with supports the
21249 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
21250 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
21251 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
21252 one of them separately.
21255 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
21256 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
21257 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:}
21258 header. For more details, and for the external application
21259 @code{hashcash} you need to install to use this feature, see
21260 @uref{http://www.cypherspace.org/~adam/hashcash/}. Even more
21261 information can be found at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
21263 If you wish to call hashcash for each message you send, say something
21267 (require 'hashcash)
21268 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'mail-add-payment)
21271 The @code{hashcash.el} library can be found at
21272 @uref{http://users.actrix.gen.nz/mycroft/hashcash.el}, or in the Gnus
21273 development contrib directory.
21275 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
21279 @item hashcash-default-payment
21280 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
21281 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
21282 should consist of. By default this is 0, meaning nothing will be
21283 done. Suggested useful values include 17 to 29.
21285 @item hashcash-payment-alist
21286 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
21287 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
21288 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(ADDR AMOUNT)} cells,
21289 where ADDR is the receiver (email address or newsgroup) and AMOUNT is
21290 the number of bits in the collision that is needed. It can also
21291 contain @samp{(ADDR STRING AMOUNT)} cells, where the STRING is the
21292 string to use (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
21296 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed.
21300 Currently there is no built in functionality in Gnus to verify
21301 hashcash cookies, it is expected that this is performed by your hand
21302 customized mail filtering scripts. Improvements in this area would be
21303 a useful contribution, however.
21305 @node Filtering Spam Using spam.el
21306 @subsection Filtering Spam Using spam.el
21307 @cindex spam filtering
21310 The idea behind @code{spam.el} is to have a control center for spam detection
21311 and filtering in Gnus. To that end, @code{spam.el} does two things: it
21312 filters incoming mail, and it analyzes mail known to be spam.
21314 So, what happens when you load @code{spam.el}? First of all, you get
21315 the following keyboard commands:
21325 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
21326 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam})
21328 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{H} mark.
21329 Whenever you see a spam article, make sure to mark its summary line
21330 with @kbd{M-d} before leaving the group.
21336 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
21337 (@code{spam-bogofilter-score}
21339 You must have bogofilter processing enabled for that command to work
21346 Gnus can learn from the spam you get. All you have to do is collect
21347 your spam in one or more spam groups, and set the variable
21348 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. In these groups, all messages
21349 are considered to be spam by default: they get the @samp{H} mark. You must
21350 review these messages from time to time and remove the @samp{H} mark for
21351 every message that is not spam after all. When you leave a spam
21352 group, all messages that continue with the @samp{H} mark, are passed on to
21353 the spam-detection engine (bogofilter, ifile, and others). To remove
21354 the @samp{H} mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to "unread" the article, or @kbd{d} for
21355 declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a group, all @samp{H}
21356 marked articles, saved or unsaved, are sent to Bogofilter or ifile
21357 (depending on @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-ifile}), which will study
21358 them as spam samples.
21360 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
21361 @code{spam-ham-marks-form} gets overridden below, marks @samp{R} and @samp{r} for
21362 default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and @samp{K} for automatic or
21363 explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for low scores, are all considered
21364 to be associated with articles which are not spam. This assumption
21365 might be false, in particular if you use kill files or score files as
21366 means for detecting genuine spam, you should then adjust
21367 @code{spam-ham-marks-form}. When you leave a group, all _unsaved_ articles
21368 bearing any the above marks are sent to Bogofilter or ifile, which
21369 will study these as not-spam samples. If you explicit kill a lot, you
21370 might sometimes end up with articles marked @samp{K} which you never saw,
21371 and which might accidentally contain spam. Best is to make sure that
21372 real spam is marked with @samp{H}, and nothing else.
21374 All other marks do not contribute to Bogofilter or ifile
21375 pre-conditioning. In particular, ticked, dormant or souped articles
21376 are likely to contribute later, when they will get deleted for real,
21377 so there is no need to use them prematurely. Explicitly expired
21378 articles do not contribute, command @kbd{E} is a way to get rid of an
21379 article without Bogofilter or ifile ever seeing it.
21381 @strong{TODO: @code{spam-use-ifile} does not process spam articles on group exit.
21382 I'm waiting for info from the author of @code{ifile-gnus.el}, because I think
21383 that functionality should go in @code{ifile-gnus.el} rather than @code{spam.el}.}
21385 To use the @code{spam.el} facilities for incoming mail filtering, you
21386 must add the following to your fancy split list
21387 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}:
21393 Note that the fancy split may be called @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
21394 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on whether you use the nnmail or
21395 nnimap back ends to retrieve your mail.
21397 The @code{spam-split} function will process incoming mail and send the mail
21398 considered to be spam into the group name given by the variable
21399 @code{spam-split-group}. Usually that group name is @samp{spam}.
21401 The following are the methods you can use to control the behavior of
21405 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
21406 * BBDB Whitelists::
21409 * Ifile spam filtering::
21410 * Extending spam.el::
21413 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
21414 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
21415 @cindex spam filtering
21416 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
21417 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
21420 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
21421 Set this variables to t (the default) if you want to use blacklists.
21424 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
21425 Set this variables to t if you want to use whitelists.
21428 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
21429 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
21430 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
21431 blacklist. Since you start out with an empty blacklist, no harm is
21432 done by having the @code{spam-use-blacklist} variable set, so it is
21433 set by default. Blacklist entries use the Emacs regular expression
21436 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
21437 legitimate. All non-whitelisted addresses are considered spammers.
21438 This option is probably not useful for most Gnus users unless the
21439 whitelists is very comprehensive. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}.
21440 Whitelist entries use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
21442 The Blacklist and whitelist location can be customized with the
21443 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default). The whitelist
21444 and blacklist files will be in that directory, named @file{whitelist} and
21445 @file{blacklist} respectively.
21447 @node BBDB Whitelists
21448 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
21449 @cindex spam filtering
21450 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
21451 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
21454 @defvar spam-use-bbdb
21456 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
21457 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted addresses,
21458 without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded for
21459 @code{spam-use-bbdb} to work properly. Only addresses in the BBDB
21460 will be allowed through; all others will be classified as spam.
21465 @subsubsection Blackholes
21466 @cindex spam filtering
21467 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
21470 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
21472 You can let Gnus consult the blackhole-type distributed spam
21473 processing systems (DCC, for instance) when you set this option. The
21474 variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers} holds the list of blackhole servers
21477 This variable is disabled by default. It is not recommended at this
21478 time because of bugs in the @code{dns.el} code.
21483 @subsubsection Bogofilter
21484 @cindex spam filtering
21485 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
21488 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
21490 Set this variable if you want to use Eric Raymond's speedy Bogofilter.
21491 This has been tested with a locally patched copy of version 0.4. Make
21492 sure to read the installation comments in @code{spam.el}.
21494 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{H} mark for spam
21495 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
21496 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
21497 category, spam or not. The shell command @command{head -1
21498 ~/.bogofilter/*} shows both article counts. The command @kbd{S t} in
21499 summary mode, either for debugging or for curiosity, triggers
21500 Bogofilter into displaying in another buffer the @emph{spamicity}
21501 score of the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0), together with the
21502 article words which most significantly contribute to the score.
21506 @node Ifile spam filtering
21507 @subsubsection Ifile spam filtering
21508 @cindex spam filtering
21509 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
21512 @defvar spam-use-ifile
21514 Enable this variable if you want to use Ifile, a statistical analyzer
21515 similar to Bogofilter. Currently you must have @code{ifile-gnus.el}
21516 loaded. The integration of Ifile with @code{spam.el} is not finished
21517 yet, but you can use @code{ifile-gnus.el} on its own if you like.
21521 @node Extending spam.el
21522 @subsubsection Extending spam.el
21523 @cindex spam filtering
21524 @cindex spam.el, extending
21525 @cindex extending spam.el
21527 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. Provide the following:
21537 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
21538 "True if blackbox should be used.")
21543 (spam-use-blackbox . spam-check-blackbox)
21545 to @code{spam-list-of-checks}.
21550 Write the @code{spam-check-blackbox} function. It should return
21551 @samp{nil} or @code{spam-split-group}. See the existing
21552 @code{spam-check-*} functions for examples of what you can do.
21555 @node Filtering Spam Using Statistics (spam-stat.el)
21556 @subsection Filtering Spam Using Statistics (spam-stat.el)
21557 @cindex Paul Graham
21558 @cindex Graham, Paul
21559 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
21560 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
21561 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
21563 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
21564 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
21565 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
21566 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
21567 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
21568 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
21569 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
21570 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
21571 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
21574 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
21575 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
21576 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
21577 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
21578 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
21579 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
21580 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
21581 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
21583 Gnus supports this kind of filtering. But it needs some setting up.
21584 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
21585 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
21586 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
21587 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
21590 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
21591 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
21592 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
21595 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
21596 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
21598 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
21599 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
21600 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
21601 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
21602 need several hundred emails in both collections.
21604 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
21605 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
21606 per mail. Use the following:
21608 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
21609 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
21610 is treated as one spam mail.
21613 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
21614 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
21615 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
21618 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
21619 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds
21620 the the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
21621 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
21622 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds the the group
21623 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
21626 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics -- the
21627 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
21628 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
21629 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
21631 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
21632 reset the dictionary.
21636 @defun spam-stat-reset
21637 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
21639 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
21640 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
21641 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
21642 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
21643 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
21644 only non-spam mails.
21647 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
21648 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
21649 to update the dictionary incrementally.
21652 @defun spam-stat-save
21653 Save the dictionary.
21656 @defvar spam-stat-file
21657 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
21658 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
21661 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
21662 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
21664 In order to use @code{spam-stat} to split your mail, you need to add the
21665 following to your @file{~/.gnus} file:
21668 (require 'spam-stat)
21672 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
21675 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
21676 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. In the simplest case, you only have
21677 two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says
21678 that mail is either spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is
21679 spam, then @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
21682 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
21683 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
21687 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
21688 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
21691 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
21692 the following expression. It only the mails not matching the regular
21693 expression are considered potential spam.
21696 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
21697 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
21698 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
21702 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
21703 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
21704 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
21705 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
21706 mails, when creating the dictionary!
21709 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
21710 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
21711 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
21715 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
21716 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
21717 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
21718 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
21719 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
21723 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
21724 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
21725 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
21726 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
21731 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
21732 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
21734 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
21736 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
21737 called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail;
21738 use this for new mail that has not been processed before
21742 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
21743 called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
21744 mail; use this for new mail that has not been processed before
21748 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
21749 called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
21750 mail but spam; use this to change the status of a mail that has
21751 already been processed as non-spam
21755 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
21756 called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
21757 normal mail; use this to change the status of a mail that has already
21758 been processed as spam
21762 @defun spam-stat-save
21763 save the hash table to the file; the filename used is stored in the
21764 variable @code{spam-stat-file}
21768 @defun spam-stat-load
21769 load the hash table from a file; the filename used is stored in the
21770 variable @code{spam-stat-file}
21774 @defun spam-stat-score-word
21775 return the spam score for a word
21779 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
21780 return the spam score for a buffer
21784 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
21785 for fancy mail splitting; add the rule @samp{(: spam-stat-split-fancy)} to
21786 @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
21788 This requires the following in your @file{~/.gnus} file:
21791 (require 'spam-stat)
21797 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
21800 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
21801 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
21802 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
21803 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
21804 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
21805 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
21806 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
21807 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
21808 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
21809 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
21810 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
21811 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
21812 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
21813 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
21816 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
21819 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
21820 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
21821 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
21822 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
21823 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
21824 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
21827 @node Various Various
21828 @section Various Various
21834 @item gnus-home-directory
21835 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
21836 defaults to @file{~/}.
21838 @item gnus-directory
21839 @vindex gnus-directory
21840 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
21841 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
21842 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
21844 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
21845 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
21846 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
21847 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
21849 @item gnus-default-directory
21850 @vindex gnus-default-directory
21851 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
21852 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
21853 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
21854 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
21855 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
21856 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
21859 @vindex gnus-verbose
21860 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
21861 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
21862 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
21863 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
21864 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
21866 @item gnus-verbose-backends
21867 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
21868 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
21869 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
21871 @item nnheader-max-head-length
21872 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
21873 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
21874 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
21875 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
21876 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
21877 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
21878 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
21879 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
21880 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
21882 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
21883 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
21884 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
21885 read when doing the operation described above.
21887 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
21888 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
21890 @cindex invalid characters in file names
21891 @cindex characters in file names
21892 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
21893 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
21894 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
21897 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
21901 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
21902 Windows (phooey) systems.
21904 @item gnus-hidden-properties
21905 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
21906 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
21907 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
21908 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
21910 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
21911 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
21912 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
21913 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
21914 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
21916 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
21917 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
21918 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
21920 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
21921 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
21923 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
21924 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
21925 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
21926 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
21929 @sc{imap} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
21937 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
21938 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
21940 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
21942 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
21948 Not because of victories @*
21951 but for the common sunshine,@*
21953 the largess of the spring.
21957 but for the day's work done@*
21958 as well as I was able;@*
21959 not for a seat upon the dais@*
21960 but at the common table.@*
21965 @chapter Appendices
21968 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
21969 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
21970 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
21971 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
21972 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
21973 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
21974 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
21975 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
21976 * Frequently Asked Questions::
21983 @cindex Installing under XEmacs
21985 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
21986 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
21987 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{w3}, @samp{mh-e},
21988 @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{rmail}, @samp{eterm}, @samp{mail-lib},
21989 @samp{xemacs-base}, and @samp{fsf-compat}. The @samp{misc-games}
21990 package is required for Morse decoding.
21997 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
21998 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
22000 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
22001 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
22002 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
22003 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
22004 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
22006 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
22007 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
22008 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
22009 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
22010 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
22011 appropriate name, don't you think?)
22013 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
22014 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
22015 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
22016 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
22019 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
22020 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
22021 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
22022 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
22023 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
22024 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
22025 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
22026 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
22027 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
22031 @node Gnus Versions
22032 @subsection Gnus Versions
22034 @cindex September Gnus
22036 @cindex Quassia Gnus
22037 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
22041 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
22042 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
22043 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
22045 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
22046 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
22048 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
22049 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
22051 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
22052 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
22054 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
22055 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
22058 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
22060 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
22061 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
22062 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
22063 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
22064 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
22065 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
22068 @node Other Gnus Versions
22069 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
22072 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
22073 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
22074 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
22075 @sc{mime} capabilities.
22077 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
22078 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
22079 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
22080 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
22087 What's the point of Gnus?
22089 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
22090 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
22091 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
22092 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
22093 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
22094 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
22095 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
22096 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
22097 keep track of millions of people who post?
22099 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
22100 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
22101 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
22102 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
22103 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
22104 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
22105 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
22106 every one of you to explore and invent.
22108 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
22109 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
22112 @node Compatibility
22113 @subsection Compatibility
22115 @cindex compatibility
22116 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
22117 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
22118 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
22123 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
22127 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
22130 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
22133 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
22134 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
22135 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
22136 important variables have their values copied into their global
22137 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
22138 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
22140 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
22141 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
22142 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
22143 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
22144 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
22148 @cindex highlighting
22149 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
22150 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
22151 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
22152 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
22153 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
22154 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
22157 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
22158 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
22159 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
22160 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
22162 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
22163 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
22164 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
22165 to stop doing it the old way.
22167 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
22169 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
22171 @cindex reporting bugs
22173 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
22174 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
22175 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
22177 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
22178 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
22179 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
22180 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
22185 @subsection Conformity
22187 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
22188 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
22196 There are no known breaches of this standard.
22200 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
22202 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
22203 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
22204 We do have some breaches to this one.
22210 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
22211 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
22212 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
22213 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
22214 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
22219 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
22220 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
22221 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
22222 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
22224 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
22226 All the various @sc{mime} RFCs are supported.
22228 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
22229 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
22231 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
22234 RFC 1991 is the original PGP message specification, published as a
22235 Information RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now called Open PGP, and
22236 put on the Standards Track. Both document a non-@sc{mime} aware PGP
22237 format. Gnus supports both encoding (signing and encryption) and
22238 decoding (verification and decryption).
22240 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
22241 RFC 2015 (superceded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
22242 1991) describes the @sc{mime}-wrapping around the RF 1991/2440 format.
22243 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
22245 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
22246 RFC 2633 describes the @sc{s/mime} format.
22248 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
22249 RFC 1730 is @sc{imap} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060 (@sc{imap} 4
22250 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5 authentication for @sc{imap}. RFC
22251 2086 describes access control lists (ACLs) for @sc{imap}. RFC 2359
22252 describes a @sc{imap} protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper
22253 TLS integration (STARTTLS) with @sc{imap}. RFC 1731 describes the
22254 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @sc{imap}.
22258 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
22259 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
22264 @subsection Emacsen
22270 Gnus should work on :
22278 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
22282 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
22283 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
22286 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
22287 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
22288 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
22292 @node Gnus Development
22293 @subsection Gnus Development
22295 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
22296 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
22297 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
22298 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
22299 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
22300 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
22301 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
22302 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
22304 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
22305 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
22306 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
22307 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
22308 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
22311 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
22312 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
22313 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
22314 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
22315 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
22317 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
22318 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
22319 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
22320 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
22321 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
22322 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
22323 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
22324 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
22325 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
22326 can't be assumed to do so.
22331 @subsection Contributors
22332 @cindex contributors
22334 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
22335 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
22336 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
22337 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
22338 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
22339 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
22340 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
22341 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
22342 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
22343 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
22345 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
22351 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
22354 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
22355 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
22356 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
22357 functionality and stuff.
22360 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
22361 well as numerous other things).
22364 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
22367 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
22370 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
22373 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
22376 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
22377 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
22380 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
22383 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
22384 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
22387 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
22390 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
22393 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
22396 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
22399 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
22400 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
22403 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
22406 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
22409 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
22412 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
22416 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
22419 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
22422 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
22425 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
22426 well as autoconf support.
22430 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
22431 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
22433 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
22442 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
22446 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
22456 Alexei V. Barantsev,
22471 Massimo Campostrini,
22476 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
22477 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
22481 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
22484 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
22490 Michael Welsh Duggan,
22495 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
22499 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
22507 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
22509 Michelangelo Grigni,
22513 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
22515 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
22517 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
22524 François Felix Ingrand,
22525 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
22526 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
22528 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
22539 Peter Skov Knudsen,
22540 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
22542 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
22543 Thor Kristoffersen,
22546 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
22564 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
22565 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
22572 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
22577 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
22581 John McClary Prevost,
22587 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
22592 Christian von Roques,
22595 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
22602 Philippe Schnoebelen,
22604 Randal L. Schwartz,
22618 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
22623 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
22639 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
22644 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
22645 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
22646 (550kB and counting).
22648 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
22651 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
22652 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
22656 @subsection New Features
22657 @cindex new features
22660 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
22661 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
22662 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
22663 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
22664 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
22667 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
22668 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
22669 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
22672 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
22674 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
22679 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
22680 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
22683 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
22684 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
22687 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
22690 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
22691 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
22692 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
22695 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
22696 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
22697 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
22698 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
22701 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
22702 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
22705 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
22706 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
22707 (@pxref{The Active File}).
22710 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
22711 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
22714 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
22715 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
22716 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
22719 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
22720 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
22721 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
22724 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
22725 the @file{.emacs} file.
22728 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
22729 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
22732 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
22733 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
22736 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
22737 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
22740 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
22741 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
22744 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
22745 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
22748 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
22751 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
22752 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
22755 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
22756 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
22759 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
22760 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
22763 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
22766 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
22767 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
22770 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
22774 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
22778 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
22779 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
22782 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
22788 @node September Gnus
22789 @subsubsection September Gnus
22793 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
22797 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
22802 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
22803 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
22807 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
22808 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
22812 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
22816 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
22817 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
22820 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
22824 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
22827 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
22830 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
22833 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
22837 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
22838 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
22841 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
22845 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
22849 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
22853 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
22857 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
22860 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
22861 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
22864 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
22868 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
22869 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
22872 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
22875 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
22876 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
22877 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
22880 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
22884 The Gnus cache is much faster.
22887 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
22891 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
22892 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
22895 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
22896 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
22899 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
22900 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
22903 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
22904 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
22905 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
22908 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
22909 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
22912 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
22915 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
22918 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
22921 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
22924 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
22925 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
22928 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
22932 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
22935 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
22940 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
22943 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
22947 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
22950 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
22954 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
22957 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
22960 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
22961 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
22964 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
22965 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
22969 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
22970 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
22973 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
22977 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
22978 buffer to allow easier treatment.
22981 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
22984 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
22988 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
22992 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
22993 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
22996 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
23000 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
23001 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
23004 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
23005 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
23008 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
23012 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
23015 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
23018 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
23024 @subsubsection Red Gnus
23026 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
23030 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
23037 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
23040 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
23041 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
23044 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
23045 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
23049 Article washing status can be displayed in the
23050 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
23053 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
23056 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
23057 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
23060 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
23064 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
23065 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
23069 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
23070 Server Internals}).
23073 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
23077 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
23080 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
23081 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
23084 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
23085 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
23086 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
23089 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
23090 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
23093 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
23094 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
23097 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
23101 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
23102 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
23105 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
23106 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
23109 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
23113 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
23116 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
23120 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
23121 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
23124 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
23125 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
23128 A new command for reading collections of documents
23129 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
23130 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
23133 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
23137 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
23138 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
23141 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
23142 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
23143 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
23146 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
23147 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
23151 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
23155 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
23159 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
23164 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
23168 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
23172 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
23173 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
23176 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
23182 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
23184 New features in Gnus 5.6:
23189 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
23190 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
23191 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
23194 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
23195 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
23196 group, which is created automatically.
23199 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
23203 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
23206 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
23207 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
23210 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
23214 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
23217 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
23218 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
23221 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
23224 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
23225 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
23228 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
23229 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
23232 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
23233 control over simplification.
23236 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
23239 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
23243 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
23246 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
23249 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
23250 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
23251 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
23254 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
23255 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
23258 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
23262 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
23263 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
23266 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
23267 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
23270 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
23274 A history of where mails have been split is available.
23277 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
23280 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
23281 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
23284 A new function for citing in Message has been
23285 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
23288 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
23291 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
23295 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
23296 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
23299 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
23300 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
23303 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
23306 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
23310 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
23311 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
23313 New features in Gnus 5.8:
23318 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
23319 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
23321 If you used procmail like in
23324 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
23325 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
23326 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
23327 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
23330 this now has changed to
23334 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
23338 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
23339 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
23342 Gnus is now a @sc{mime}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
23343 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
23346 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
23347 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
23350 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
23351 called to position point.
23354 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
23355 summary buffers and @sc{nov} files.
23358 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
23359 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
23362 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
23363 subtly different manner.
23366 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
23367 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
23368 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
23371 Gnus can now read @sc{imap} mail via @code{nnimap}.
23379 @section The Manual
23383 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
23384 either @code{texi2dvi}
23386 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
23387 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
23389 to get what you hold in your hands now.
23391 The following conventions have been used:
23396 This is a @samp{string}
23399 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
23402 This is a @file{file}
23405 This is a @code{symbol}
23409 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
23413 (setq flargnoze "yes")
23416 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
23419 (setq flumphel 'yes)
23422 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
23423 ever get them confused.
23427 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
23428 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
23429 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
23430 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
23431 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
23432 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
23433 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
23439 @node On Writing Manuals
23440 @section On Writing Manuals
23442 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
23443 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
23444 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
23445 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
23446 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
23447 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
23450 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
23451 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
23452 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
23455 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
23456 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
23461 @section Terminology
23463 @cindex terminology
23468 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
23469 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
23470 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
23471 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
23472 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
23476 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
23477 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
23478 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
23479 not posting, and replying is not following up.
23483 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
23487 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
23492 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
23493 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
23494 commonly fetched via the protocol NNTP, whereas mail messages could be
23495 read from a file on the local disk. The internal architecture of Gnus
23496 thus comprises a `front end' and a number of `back ends'. Internally,
23497 when you enter a group (by hitting @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke
23498 a function in the front end in Gnus. The front end then `talks' to a
23499 back end and says things like ``Give me the list of articles in the foo
23500 group'' or ``Show me article number 4711''.
23502 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back end
23503 accesses news via NNTP, the @code{nnimap} back end accesses mail via
23504 IMAP) or a file format and directory layout (the @code{nnspool} back end
23505 accesses news via the common `spool directory' format, the @code{nnml}
23506 back end access mail via a file format and directory layout that's
23509 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
23510 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
23511 access the articles.
23513 However, sometimes the term `back end' is also used where `server'
23514 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term `select
23515 method' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
23520 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
23521 default, way of getting news.
23525 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
23526 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
23531 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
23532 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
23536 A message that has been posted as news.
23539 @cindex mail message
23540 A message that has been mailed.
23544 A mail message or news article
23548 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
23553 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
23558 A line from the head of an article.
23562 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
23563 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
23567 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
23568 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
23569 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
23570 normal @sc{head} format.
23574 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
23575 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
23576 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
23577 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
23578 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
23579 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
23581 @item killed groups
23582 @cindex killed groups
23583 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
23584 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
23586 @item zombie groups
23587 @cindex zombie groups
23588 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
23591 @cindex active file
23592 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
23593 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
23594 is rather large, as you might surmise.
23597 @cindex bogus groups
23598 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
23599 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
23600 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
23603 @cindex activating groups
23604 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
23605 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
23606 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
23610 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
23612 @item select method
23613 @cindex select method
23614 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
23617 @item virtual server
23618 @cindex virtual server
23619 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
23620 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
23621 whole is a virtual server.
23625 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
23626 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
23629 @item ephemeral groups
23630 @cindex ephemeral groups
23631 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
23632 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
23633 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
23636 @cindex solid groups
23637 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
23638 group buffer are solid groups.
23640 @item sparse articles
23641 @cindex sparse articles
23642 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
23643 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
23647 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
23648 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
23652 @cindex thread root
23653 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
23654 articles in the thread.
23658 An article that has responses.
23662 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
23666 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
23667 specified by RFC 1153.
23673 @node Customization
23674 @section Customization
23675 @cindex general customization
23677 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
23678 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
23679 for some quite common situations.
23682 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
23683 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
23684 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
23685 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
23689 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
23690 @subsection Slow/Expensive NNTP Connection
23692 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
23693 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
23694 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
23698 @item gnus-read-active-file
23699 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
23700 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
23701 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
23702 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
23703 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
23705 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
23706 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
23707 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
23708 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
23712 @node Slow Terminal Connection
23713 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
23715 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
23716 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
23717 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
23721 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
23722 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
23723 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
23724 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
23725 horizontal and vertical recentering.
23727 @item gnus-visible-headers
23728 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
23729 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
23730 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
23731 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
23733 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
23735 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
23736 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
23737 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
23740 @item gnus-use-full-window
23741 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
23742 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
23743 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
23744 want to read them anyway.
23746 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
23747 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
23751 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
23752 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
23753 lines, which might save some time.
23757 @node Little Disk Space
23758 @subsection Little Disk Space
23761 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
23762 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
23766 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
23767 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
23768 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
23769 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
23772 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
23773 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
23774 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
23775 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
23778 @item gnus-save-killed-list
23779 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
23780 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
23781 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
23782 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
23788 @subsection Slow Machine
23789 @cindex slow machine
23791 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
23792 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
23794 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
23795 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
23797 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
23798 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
23799 summary buffer faster.
23803 @node Troubleshooting
23804 @section Troubleshooting
23805 @cindex troubleshooting
23807 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
23815 Make sure your computer is switched on.
23818 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
23819 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
23823 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
23824 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
23825 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
23826 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
23829 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
23833 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
23834 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
23835 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
23836 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
23837 something like that.
23840 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
23843 @cindex reporting bugs
23845 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
23847 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
23848 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
23849 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
23850 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
23852 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
23853 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
23854 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
23855 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
23858 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
23859 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
23860 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
23861 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
23862 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
23863 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
23865 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
23866 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
23867 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
23871 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
23872 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
23875 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
23876 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
23877 edebug. Debugging lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
23878 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
23879 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
23880 you discover some weird behaviour when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
23881 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
23882 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
23883 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
23884 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
23885 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
23886 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
23887 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
23888 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
23890 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
23891 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
23893 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
23894 @cindex ding mailing list
23895 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
23896 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
23900 @node Gnus Reference Guide
23901 @section Gnus Reference Guide
23903 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
23904 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
23905 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
23906 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
23909 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
23910 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
23911 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
23912 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
23913 and general methods of operation.
23916 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
23917 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
23918 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
23919 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
23920 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
23921 * Group Info:: The group info format.
23922 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
23923 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
23924 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
23928 @node Gnus Utility Functions
23929 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
23930 @cindex Gnus utility functions
23931 @cindex utility functions
23933 @cindex internal variables
23935 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
23936 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
23937 Below is a list of the most common ones.
23941 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
23942 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
23943 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
23945 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
23946 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
23947 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
23949 @item gnus-group-real-name
23950 @findex gnus-group-real-name
23951 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
23954 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
23955 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
23956 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
23957 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
23959 @item gnus-get-info
23960 @findex gnus-get-info
23961 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
23963 @item gnus-group-unread
23964 @findex gnus-group-unread
23965 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
23969 @findex gnus-active
23970 The active entry for @var{group}.
23972 @item gnus-set-active
23973 @findex gnus-set-active
23974 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
23976 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
23977 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
23978 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
23981 @item gnus-continuum-version
23982 @findex gnus-continuum-version
23983 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
23984 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
23987 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
23988 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
23989 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
23991 @item gnus-news-group-p
23992 @findex gnus-news-group-p
23993 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
23995 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
23996 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
23997 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
23999 @item gnus-server-to-method
24000 @findex gnus-server-to-method
24001 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
24003 @item gnus-server-equal
24004 @findex gnus-server-equal
24005 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
24007 @item gnus-group-native-p
24008 @findex gnus-group-native-p
24009 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
24011 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
24012 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
24013 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
24015 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
24016 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
24017 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
24019 @item group-group-find-parameter
24020 @findex group-group-find-parameter
24021 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
24022 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
24024 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
24025 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
24026 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
24028 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
24029 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
24030 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
24032 @item gnus-check-backend-function
24033 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
24034 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
24035 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
24038 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
24042 @item gnus-read-method
24043 @findex gnus-read-method
24044 Prompts the user for a select method.
24049 @node Back End Interface
24050 @subsection Back End Interface
24052 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
24053 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
24054 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
24055 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
24056 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
24057 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
24059 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
24060 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
24061 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
24062 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
24063 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
24064 been opened, the function should fail.
24066 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
24067 name. Take this example:
24071 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
24072 (nntp-port-number 4324))
24075 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
24076 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
24078 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
24079 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
24080 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
24082 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
24083 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
24084 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
24086 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
24087 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
24088 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
24089 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
24090 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
24091 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
24094 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
24095 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
24096 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
24097 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
24100 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
24101 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
24102 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
24103 possible for later articles to `re-use' older article numbers without
24104 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
24105 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
24106 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
24107 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
24108 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
24109 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
24111 The previous paragraph already mentions all the `hard' restrictions that
24112 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
24113 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
24114 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
24115 the `no-reuse' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
24116 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
24117 of numbers as long as possible.
24119 Note that by convention, backends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
24120 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
24121 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
24123 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
24126 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
24129 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
24130 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
24131 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
24132 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
24133 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
24134 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
24138 @node Required Back End Functions
24139 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
24143 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
24145 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
24146 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
24147 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
24148 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
24150 The result data should either be HEADs or @sc{nov} lines, and the result
24151 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
24152 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
24153 of HEADs and @sc{nov} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
24155 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
24156 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
24157 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
24158 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
24159 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
24160 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
24161 number, do maximum fetches.
24163 Here's an example HEAD:
24166 221 1056 Article retrieved.
24167 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
24168 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
24169 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
24170 Subject: Re: Something very droll
24171 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
24172 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
24174 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
24175 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
24176 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
24180 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
24181 these in the data buffer.
24183 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
24187 head = error / valid-head
24188 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
24189 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
24190 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
24191 header = <text> eol
24194 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
24195 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
24199 nov-buffer = *nov-line
24200 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
24201 field = <text except TAB>
24204 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
24208 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
24210 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
24211 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
24213 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
24214 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
24215 server. In fact, it should do so.
24217 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
24218 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
24221 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
24223 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
24224 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
24227 There should be no data returned.
24230 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
24232 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
24233 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
24234 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
24235 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
24237 There should be no data returned.
24240 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
24242 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
24243 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
24244 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
24245 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
24247 There should be no data returned.
24250 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
24252 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
24254 There should be no data returned.
24257 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
24259 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
24260 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
24261 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
24262 it would be nice if that were possible.
24264 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
24265 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
24266 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
24267 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
24268 into its article buffer.
24270 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
24271 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
24272 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
24273 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
24274 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
24275 on successful article retrieval.
24278 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
24280 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
24281 making @var{group} the current group.
24283 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
24286 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
24289 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
24292 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
24293 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
24294 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
24295 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
24296 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
24297 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
24298 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
24299 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
24300 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
24304 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
24305 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
24306 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
24310 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
24312 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
24313 a no-op on most back ends.
24315 There should be no data returned.
24318 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
24320 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
24323 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
24326 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
24327 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
24330 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
24331 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
24332 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
24333 and the highest as 0.
24336 active-file = *active-line
24337 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
24339 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
24342 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
24343 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
24344 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
24347 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
24349 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
24350 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
24351 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
24352 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
24353 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
24354 clear if the posting could not be completed.
24356 There should be no result data from this function.
24361 @node Optional Back End Functions
24362 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
24366 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
24368 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
24369 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
24370 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
24372 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
24373 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
24374 former is in the same format as the data from
24375 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
24376 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
24379 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
24383 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
24385 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
24386 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all the
24387 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
24388 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
24389 should return a non-nil value.
24391 There should be no result data from this function.
24394 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
24396 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
24397 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
24398 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
24399 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
24400 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
24401 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
24402 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
24403 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
24405 There should be no result data from this function.
24408 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
24410 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
24411 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
24412 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
24413 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
24414 propagate the mark information to the server.
24416 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
24419 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
24422 RANGE is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. ACTION is
24423 @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove marks
24424 (preserving all marks not mentioned). MARK is a list of marks; where
24425 each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are @code{read},
24426 @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
24427 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
24428 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
24429 possible, not limit itself to these.
24431 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
24432 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
24433 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
24434 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
24436 An example action list:
24439 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
24440 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
24441 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
24444 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
24445 mark on (currently not used for anything).
24447 There should be no result data from this function.
24449 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
24451 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
24452 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
24453 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
24454 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
24455 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
24457 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
24458 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
24459 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
24462 There should be no result data from this function.
24465 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
24467 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
24468 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
24469 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query the
24470 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
24471 to be heeded---if the back end decides that it is too much work just
24472 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
24473 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
24475 There should be no result data from this function.
24478 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
24480 The result data from this function should be a description of
24484 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
24486 description = <text>
24489 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
24491 The result data from this function should be the description of all
24492 groups available on the server.
24495 description-buffer = *description-line
24499 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
24501 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
24502 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
24503 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
24504 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
24505 in the active buffer format.
24507 It is okay for this function to return `too many' groups; some back ends
24508 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
24509 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
24510 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
24511 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
24512 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
24513 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
24516 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
24518 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
24520 There should be no return data.
24523 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
24525 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
24526 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
24527 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
24528 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
24529 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
24532 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
24535 There should be no result data returned.
24538 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
24541 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
24542 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
24544 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
24545 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
24546 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
24547 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
24548 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
24549 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
24551 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
24552 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
24555 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
24556 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
24558 There should be no data returned.
24561 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
24563 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
24564 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
24565 this function in short order.
24567 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
24568 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
24570 There should be no data returned.
24573 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
24575 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
24576 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
24578 There should be no data returned.
24581 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
24583 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
24584 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
24585 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
24587 There should be no data returned.
24590 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
24592 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
24593 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
24595 There should be no data returned.
24600 @node Error Messaging
24601 @subsubsection Error Messaging
24603 @findex nnheader-report
24604 @findex nnheader-get-report
24605 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
24606 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
24607 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
24608 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
24609 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
24610 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
24613 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
24615 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
24618 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
24619 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
24620 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
24621 takes one argument---the server symbol.
24623 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
24624 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
24625 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
24628 @node Writing New Back Ends
24629 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
24631 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
24632 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
24633 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
24634 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
24635 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
24638 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
24639 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
24640 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
24642 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
24643 package called @code{nnoo}.
24645 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
24646 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
24652 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
24653 parameters. For instance:
24656 (nnoo-declare nndir
24660 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
24661 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
24664 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
24665 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
24666 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
24668 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
24669 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
24670 a function in those back ends.
24673 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
24674 "Where nndir will look for groups."
24675 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
24678 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
24679 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
24680 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
24682 @item nnoo-define-basics
24683 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
24687 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
24691 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
24692 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
24693 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
24695 @item nnoo-map-functions
24696 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
24697 functions from the parent back ends.
24700 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
24701 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
24702 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
24705 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
24706 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
24707 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
24708 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
24711 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
24712 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
24713 haven't already been defined.
24719 nnmh-request-newgroups)
24723 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
24724 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
24725 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
24730 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
24733 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
24734 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
24738 (require 'nnheader)
24742 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
24744 (nnoo-declare nndir
24747 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
24748 "Where nndir will look for groups."
24749 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
24751 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
24752 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
24755 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
24757 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
24758 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
24759 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
24761 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
24762 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
24764 ;;; Interface functions.
24766 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
24768 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
24769 (setq nndir-directory
24770 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
24772 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
24773 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
24774 (push `(nndir-current-group
24775 ,(file-name-nondirectory
24776 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
24778 (push `(nndir-top-directory
24779 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
24781 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
24783 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
24784 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
24785 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
24786 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
24787 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
24791 nnmh-status-message
24793 nnmh-request-newgroups))
24799 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
24800 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
24802 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
24803 @findex gnus-declare-backend
24804 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
24805 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
24806 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
24808 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
24809 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
24814 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
24817 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
24819 The abilities can be:
24823 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
24825 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
24827 This back end supports both mail and news.
24829 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
24832 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
24833 articles and groups.
24835 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
24836 true for almost all back ends.
24837 @item prompt-address
24838 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
24839 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
24840 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
24844 @node Mail-like Back Ends
24845 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
24847 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
24848 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
24849 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
24850 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
24853 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
24854 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
24855 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
24858 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
24859 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
24862 This function takes four parameters.
24866 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
24869 @item exit-function
24870 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
24872 @item temp-directory
24873 Where the temporary files should be stored.
24876 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
24877 performed for one group only.
24880 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
24881 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
24882 find the article number assigned to this article.
24884 The function also uses the following variables:
24885 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
24886 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
24887 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
24888 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
24892 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
24893 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
24897 @node Score File Syntax
24898 @subsection Score File Syntax
24900 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
24901 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
24902 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
24904 Here's a typical score file:
24908 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
24915 BNF definition of a score file:
24918 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
24919 element = rule / atom
24920 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
24921 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
24922 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
24923 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
24925 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
24926 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
24927 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
24928 date-header = "date"
24929 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
24930 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
24931 score = "nil" / <integer>
24932 date = "nil" / <natural number>
24933 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
24934 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
24935 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
24936 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
24937 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
24938 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
24939 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
24940 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
24941 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
24942 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
24943 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
24944 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
24945 exclude-files / read-only / touched
24946 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
24947 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
24948 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
24949 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
24950 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
24951 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
24952 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
24953 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
24954 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
24955 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
24956 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
24957 eval = "eval" space <form>
24958 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
24961 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
24964 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
24965 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
24966 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
24967 one looong line, then that's ok.
24969 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
24970 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
24974 @subsection Headers
24976 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
24977 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
24978 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
24979 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
24981 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
24982 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
24983 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
24984 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
24985 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
24986 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
24987 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
24989 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
24990 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
24991 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
24992 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
24993 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
24995 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
24996 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
25002 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
25003 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
25005 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
25006 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
25007 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
25008 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
25010 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
25014 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
25017 is transformed into
25020 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
25023 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
25024 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
25027 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
25030 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
25031 is slightly tricky:
25034 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
25040 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
25043 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
25049 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
25056 and is equal to the previous range.
25058 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
25059 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
25060 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
25064 range = simple-range / normal-range
25065 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
25066 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
25067 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
25068 number *[ " " contents ]
25071 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
25072 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
25073 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
25074 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
25075 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
25080 @subsection Group Info
25082 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
25083 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
25084 describes the group.
25086 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
25087 second is a more complex one:
25090 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
25092 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
25093 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
25095 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
25098 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
25099 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
25100 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
25101 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
25102 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
25103 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
25104 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
25105 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
25106 this section is about.
25108 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
25109 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
25110 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
25112 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
25115 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
25116 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
25117 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
25118 group = quote <string> quote
25119 ralevel = rank / level
25120 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
25121 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
25122 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
25124 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
25125 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
25126 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
25127 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
25130 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
25131 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
25134 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
25135 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
25138 @item gnus-info-group
25139 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
25140 @findex gnus-info-group
25141 @findex gnus-info-set-group
25142 Get/set the group name.
25144 @item gnus-info-rank
25145 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
25146 @findex gnus-info-rank
25147 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
25148 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
25150 @item gnus-info-level
25151 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
25152 @findex gnus-info-level
25153 @findex gnus-info-set-level
25154 Get/set the group level.
25156 @item gnus-info-score
25157 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
25158 @findex gnus-info-score
25159 @findex gnus-info-set-score
25160 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
25162 @item gnus-info-read
25163 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
25164 @findex gnus-info-read
25165 @findex gnus-info-set-read
25166 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
25168 @item gnus-info-marks
25169 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
25170 @findex gnus-info-marks
25171 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
25172 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
25174 @item gnus-info-method
25175 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
25176 @findex gnus-info-method
25177 @findex gnus-info-set-method
25178 Get/set the group select method.
25180 @item gnus-info-params
25181 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
25182 @findex gnus-info-params
25183 @findex gnus-info-set-params
25184 Get/set the group parameters.
25187 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
25188 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
25190 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
25191 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
25192 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
25193 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
25196 @node Extended Interactive
25197 @subsection Extended Interactive
25198 @cindex interactive
25199 @findex gnus-interactive
25201 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
25202 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
25203 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
25206 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
25207 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
25212 The best thing to do would have been to implement
25213 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
25214 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
25215 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
25216 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
25217 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
25218 @code{interactive}.
25220 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
25225 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
25226 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
25230 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
25231 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
25232 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
25235 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
25239 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
25243 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
25249 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
25250 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
25254 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
25255 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
25256 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
25258 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
25259 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
25260 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
25261 Gnus, that's very useful.
25263 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
25264 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
25265 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
25266 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
25267 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
25268 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
25269 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
25270 following function:
25273 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
25277 (,function ,@@args))
25281 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
25282 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
25283 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
25286 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
25287 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
25288 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
25290 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
25291 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
25292 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
25295 @node Various File Formats
25296 @subsection Various File Formats
25299 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
25300 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
25304 @node Active File Format
25305 @subsubsection Active File Format
25307 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
25308 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
25311 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
25314 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
25315 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
25316 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
25317 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
25318 no.general 1000 900 y
25321 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
25324 active = *group-line
25325 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
25326 group = <non-white-space string>
25328 high-number = <non-negative integer>
25329 low-number = <positive integer>
25330 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
25333 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
25334 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
25337 @node Newsgroups File Format
25338 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
25340 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
25341 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
25342 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
25345 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
25346 Here's the definition:
25350 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
25351 group = <non-white-space string>
25353 description = <string>
25358 @node Emacs for Heathens
25359 @section Emacs for Heathens
25361 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
25362 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
25363 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
25364 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
25365 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
25366 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
25367 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
25371 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
25372 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
25377 @subsection Keystrokes
25381 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
25384 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
25387 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
25388 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
25389 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
25390 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
25391 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
25392 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
25394 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
25395 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
25396 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
25397 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
25398 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
25399 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
25400 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
25402 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
25403 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
25404 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
25405 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
25406 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
25407 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
25408 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
25410 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
25411 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
25412 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
25413 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
25414 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
25420 @subsection Emacs Lisp
25422 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
25423 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
25424 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
25425 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
25427 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
25428 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
25429 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
25430 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
25431 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
25432 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
25433 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
25436 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
25437 write the following:
25440 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
25443 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
25444 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
25445 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
25448 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
25449 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
25450 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
25451 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
25452 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
25454 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
25455 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
25456 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
25460 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
25464 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
25467 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
25468 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
25471 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
25474 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
25475 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
25478 @include gnus-faq.texi
25498 @c Local Variables:
25500 @c coding: iso-8859-1
25502 % LocalWords: BNF mucho detailmenu cindex kindex kbd
25503 % LocalWords: findex Gnusae vindex dfn dfn samp nntp setq nnspool nntpserver
25504 % LocalWords: nnmbox newusers Blllrph NEWGROUPS dingnusdingnusdingnus
25505 % LocalWords: pre fab rec comp nnslashdot regex ga ga sci nnml nnbabyl nnmh
25506 % LocalWords: nnfolder emph looong eld newsreaders defun init elc pxref