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308 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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325 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
335 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
337 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
345 @top The Gnus Newsreader
349 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
350 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@acronym{NNTP}, local
351 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
354 @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change the following line:
355 This manual corresponds to No Gnus v0.11.
370 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
371 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
373 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
374 being accused of plagiarism:
376 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
377 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
378 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
379 can even read news with it!
381 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
382 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
383 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
384 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
385 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
388 @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change the following line:
389 This manual corresponds to No Gnus v0.11.
391 @heading Other related manuals
393 @item Message manual: Composing messages
394 @item Emacs-MIME: Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
395 @item Sieve: Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
396 @item PGG: @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
397 @item SASL: @acronym{SASL} authentication in Emacs.
403 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
404 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
405 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
406 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
407 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
408 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
409 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
410 * Various:: General purpose settings.
411 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
412 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, @acronym{FAQ}, History, Internals.
413 * GNU Free Documentation License:: The license for this documentation.
414 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
415 * Key Index:: Key Index.
417 Other related manuals
419 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
420 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
421 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
422 * PGG:(pgg). @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
423 * SASL:(sasl). @acronym{SASL} authentication in Emacs.
426 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
430 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
431 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
432 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
433 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
434 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
435 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
436 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
437 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
438 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
439 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
440 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
444 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
445 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
446 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
450 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
451 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
452 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
453 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
454 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
455 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
456 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
457 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
458 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
459 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
460 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
461 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
462 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
463 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
464 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
465 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
466 * Non-ASCII Group Names:: Accessing groups of non-English names.
467 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
471 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
472 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
473 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
477 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
478 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
479 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
480 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
481 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
485 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
486 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
487 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
488 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
489 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
493 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
494 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
495 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
496 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
497 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
498 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
499 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
500 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
501 * Threading:: How threads are made.
502 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
503 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
504 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
505 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
506 * Sticky Articles:: Article buffers that are not reused.
507 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
508 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
509 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
510 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
511 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
512 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
513 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
514 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
515 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
516 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
517 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
518 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
519 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
520 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
521 or reselecting the current group.
522 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
523 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
524 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
525 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
527 Summary Buffer Format
529 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
530 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
531 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
532 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
536 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
537 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
539 Reply, Followup and Post
541 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
542 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
543 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
544 * Canceling and Superseding::
548 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
549 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
550 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
551 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
552 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
553 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
557 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
558 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
560 Customizing Threading
562 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
563 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
564 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
565 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
569 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
570 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
571 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
572 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
573 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
574 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
578 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
579 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
580 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
584 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
585 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
586 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
587 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
588 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
589 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
590 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
591 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
592 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
593 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
594 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
596 Alternative Approaches
598 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
599 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
601 Various Summary Stuff
603 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
604 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
605 * Summary Generation Commands::
606 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
610 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
611 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
612 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
613 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
614 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
618 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
619 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
620 * POP before SMTP:: You cannot send a mail unless you read a mail.
621 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
622 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
623 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
624 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
625 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
626 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
630 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
631 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
632 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
633 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
634 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
635 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files.
636 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
637 * Email Based Diary:: Using mails to manage diary events in Gnus.
638 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
642 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
643 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
644 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
645 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
646 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
647 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
648 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
652 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
653 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
657 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
658 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
659 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
660 * NNTP marks:: Storing marks for @acronym{NNTP} servers.
664 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
665 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
666 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
667 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
668 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
669 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
670 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
671 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
672 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
673 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
674 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
675 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
676 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
680 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
681 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
682 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
684 Choosing a Mail Back End
686 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
687 * Babyl:: Babyl was used by older versions of Rmail.
688 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
689 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
690 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
691 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
692 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
697 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
698 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
699 * Customizing W3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/W3 from Gnus.
703 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
704 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
705 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
706 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
707 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
708 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
712 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
713 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
714 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
715 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
719 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
723 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
724 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
728 * The NNDiary Back End:: Basic setup and usage.
729 * The Gnus Diary Library:: Utility toolkit on top of nndiary.
730 * Sending or Not Sending:: A final note on sending diary messages.
734 * Diary Messages:: What makes a message valid for nndiary.
735 * Running NNDiary:: NNDiary has two modes of operation.
736 * Customizing NNDiary:: Bells and whistles.
738 The Gnus Diary Library
740 * Diary Summary Line Format:: A nicer summary buffer line format.
741 * Diary Articles Sorting:: A nicer way to sort messages.
742 * Diary Headers Generation:: Not doing it manually.
743 * Diary Group Parameters:: Not handling them manually.
747 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
748 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
749 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
750 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
751 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
752 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
753 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
754 * Agent and flags:: How the Agent maintains flags.
755 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
756 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
757 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
758 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
759 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
760 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
764 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
765 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
766 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
770 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
771 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
772 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
776 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
777 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
778 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
779 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
780 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
781 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
782 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
783 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
784 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
785 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
786 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
787 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
788 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
789 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
790 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
791 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
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:: Simple ways to avoid unsolicited commercial email.
819 * Spam Package:: A package for filtering and processing spam.
820 * The Gnus Registry:: A package for tracking messages by Message-ID.
821 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
822 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
826 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
827 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
828 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
829 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
830 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
831 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
832 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
833 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
837 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
838 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
839 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were
841 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
842 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
846 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
847 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
848 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
849 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
853 * Spam Package Introduction::
854 * Filtering Incoming Mail::
855 * Detecting Spam in Groups::
856 * Spam and Ham Processors::
857 * Spam Package Configuration Examples::
859 * Extending the Spam package::
860 * Spam Statistics Package::
862 Spam Statistics Package
864 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
865 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
866 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
870 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
871 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
872 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
873 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
874 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
875 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
876 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
877 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
878 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
882 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
883 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
884 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
885 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
886 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
887 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
888 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
889 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
890 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
894 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
895 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
896 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
897 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
898 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
899 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
900 * No Gnus:: Very punny.
904 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
905 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
906 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
907 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
911 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
912 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
913 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
914 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
915 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
916 * Group Info:: The group info format.
917 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
918 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
919 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
923 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
924 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
925 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
926 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
927 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
928 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
932 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
933 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
937 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
938 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
944 @chapter Starting Gnus
947 If you haven't used Emacs much before using Gnus, read @ref{Emacs for
952 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
953 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
954 your Emacs. If not, you should customize the variable
955 @code{gnus-select-method} as described in @ref{Finding the News}. For a
956 minimal setup for posting should also customize the variables
957 @code{user-full-name} and @code{user-mail-address}.
959 @findex gnus-other-frame
960 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
961 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
962 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
964 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
965 variables in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file. This file is similar to
966 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when Gnus starts.
968 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
969 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
972 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
973 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
974 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
975 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
976 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
977 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
978 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
979 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
980 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
981 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
985 @node Finding the News
986 @section Finding the News
989 First of all, you should know that there is a special buffer called
990 @code{*Server*} that lists all the servers Gnus knows about. You can
991 press @kbd{^} from the Group buffer to see it. In the Server buffer,
992 you can press @kbd{RET} on a defined server to see all the groups it
993 serves (subscribed or not!). You can also add or delete servers, edit
994 a foreign server's definition, agentize or de-agentize a server, and
995 do many other neat things. @xref{Server Buffer}.
996 @xref{Foreign Groups}. @xref{Agent Basics}.
998 @vindex gnus-select-method
1000 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
1001 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
1002 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
1003 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
1006 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @acronym{NNTP} server is where
1007 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
1010 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
1013 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
1016 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
1019 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1020 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1021 server is running Leafnode (which is a simple, standalone private news
1022 server); in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1024 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1026 @cindex @acronym{NNTP} server
1027 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
1028 @env{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1029 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1030 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter.
1031 If that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs
1032 as an @acronym{NNTP} server. That's a long shot, though.
1034 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1035 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1036 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1037 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1039 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1040 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1041 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1042 @acronym{NNTP} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1043 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
1044 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1045 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1046 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1047 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1050 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1052 However, if you use one @acronym{NNTP} server regularly and are just
1053 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1054 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1055 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1056 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1057 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1059 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1061 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1062 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1063 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1064 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1065 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1066 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1069 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1070 you would typically set this variable to
1073 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1076 Note: the @acronym{NNTP} back end stores marks in marks files
1077 (@pxref{NNTP marks}). This feature makes it easy to share marks between
1078 several Gnus installations, but may slow down things a bit when fetching
1079 new articles. @xref{NNTP marks}, for more information.
1082 @node The First Time
1083 @section The First Time
1084 @cindex first time usage
1086 If no startup files exist (@pxref{Startup Files}), Gnus will try to
1087 determine what groups should be subscribed by default.
1089 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1090 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
1091 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1092 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1095 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1096 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1097 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1099 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1100 help you with most common problems.
1102 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1103 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1107 @node The Server is Down
1108 @section The Server is Down
1109 @cindex server errors
1111 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1112 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1113 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1115 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1116 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1117 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1118 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1119 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1120 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1121 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1123 @findex gnus-no-server
1124 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1126 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1127 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1128 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1129 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1130 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1131 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1132 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1136 @section Slave Gnusae
1139 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1140 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1141 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1142 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1144 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1145 @file{.newsrc} file.
1147 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1148 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1149 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1150 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1151 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1152 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1153 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1156 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1157 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1158 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1159 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1160 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1161 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1162 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1163 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1165 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1166 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1168 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1169 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1170 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1171 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1172 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1179 @cindex subscription
1181 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1182 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1183 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1184 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1185 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1186 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1187 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1188 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1189 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1192 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1193 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1194 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1198 @node Checking New Groups
1199 @subsection Checking New Groups
1201 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1202 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1203 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1204 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1205 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1206 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1207 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1208 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1209 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1210 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1212 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1213 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1214 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1215 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1216 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1217 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1218 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1219 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1220 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1221 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1222 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1224 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1225 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1226 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1227 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1228 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1229 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1232 @node Subscription Methods
1233 @subsection Subscription Methods
1235 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1236 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1237 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1239 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1240 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1242 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1246 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1247 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1248 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1249 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1250 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1252 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1253 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1254 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1255 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1257 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1258 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1259 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1261 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1262 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1263 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1264 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1265 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1266 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1267 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1268 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1269 up. Or something like that.
1271 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1272 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1273 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1274 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1275 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1277 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1278 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1279 Kill all new groups.
1281 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1282 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1283 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1284 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1285 topic parameter that looks like
1291 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1294 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1299 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1300 A closely related variable is
1301 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1302 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1303 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1304 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1307 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1308 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1309 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1310 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1313 @node Filtering New Groups
1314 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1316 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1317 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1318 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1321 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1324 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1325 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1326 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1327 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1328 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1329 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1330 subscribing these groups.
1331 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1332 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1334 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1335 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1336 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1337 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1338 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1339 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1340 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1341 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1343 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1344 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1345 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1346 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous,
1347 but I thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is
1348 more meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is
1349 used more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new
1350 groups that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1351 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1352 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1355 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1356 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1359 @node Changing Servers
1360 @section Changing Servers
1361 @cindex changing servers
1363 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another.
1364 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1365 very flaky and you want to use another.
1367 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1368 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1372 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1373 @acronym{NNTP} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1374 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1375 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1378 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1379 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1380 You can use the @kbd{M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups}
1381 command to clear out all data that you have on your native groups.
1384 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1385 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1386 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1387 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1389 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1390 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1391 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1392 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1393 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1394 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1395 cache for all groups).
1399 @section Startup Files
1400 @cindex startup files
1405 Most common Unix news readers use a shared startup file called
1406 @file{.newsrc}. This file contains all the information about what
1407 groups are subscribed, and which articles in these groups have been
1410 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1411 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1412 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1413 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1414 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1415 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1416 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1418 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1419 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1420 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1421 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1422 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1423 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1425 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1426 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1427 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1428 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1429 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1430 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1431 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1432 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1433 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which can be
1434 convenient if you use a different news reader occasionally, and you
1435 want to read a different subset of the available groups with that
1438 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1439 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1440 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1441 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1442 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1443 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1444 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1445 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1446 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1447 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1448 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1449 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1451 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1452 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1453 @vindex version-control
1454 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1455 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1456 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1457 If you want version control for this file, set
1458 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1459 @code{version-control} variable.
1461 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1462 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1463 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1464 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1465 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1466 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1467 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1468 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1469 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1470 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1473 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1474 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1476 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1477 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1480 @vindex gnus-init-file
1481 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1482 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1483 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus-init} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1484 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1485 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1486 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1487 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1488 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1489 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1490 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order). If Emacs was invoked with
1491 the @option{-q} or @option{--no-init-file} options (@pxref{Initial
1492 Options, ,Initial Options, emacs, The Emacs Manual}), Gnus doesn't read
1493 @code{gnus-init-file}.
1498 @cindex dribble file
1501 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1502 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1503 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1504 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1505 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1508 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1509 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1512 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1513 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1514 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1516 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1517 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1518 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1519 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1520 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1521 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1523 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1524 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1525 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1528 @node The Active File
1529 @section The Active File
1531 @cindex ignored groups
1533 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1534 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1535 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1537 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1538 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1539 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1540 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1541 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1542 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1543 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1546 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1547 @c if you set it to anything else.
1549 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1551 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1552 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1553 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1555 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1556 you actually subscribe to.
1558 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1559 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1560 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1561 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1563 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1564 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1565 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1566 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1567 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1568 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1570 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1571 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1572 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1575 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1576 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1577 @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1578 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1579 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1580 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1582 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1583 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1585 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1586 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1588 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1589 secondary select methods.
1592 @node Startup Variables
1593 @section Startup Variables
1597 @item gnus-load-hook
1598 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1599 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1600 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1601 times you start Gnus.
1603 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1604 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1605 A hook called as the first thing when Gnus is started.
1607 @item gnus-startup-hook
1608 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1609 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1611 @item gnus-started-hook
1612 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1613 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1616 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1617 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1618 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1619 generating the group buffer.
1621 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1622 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1623 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1624 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1625 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1626 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1627 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1628 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1630 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1631 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1632 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1633 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1634 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1635 @file{~/.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1637 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1638 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1639 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1641 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1642 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1643 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1645 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1646 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1647 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1648 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1654 @chapter Group Buffer
1655 @cindex group buffer
1657 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1659 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1660 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1661 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1662 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1663 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1664 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1665 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1666 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1667 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1668 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1669 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1670 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1671 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1672 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1673 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1674 @c human rights at 9...
1677 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1678 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1679 long as Gnus is active.
1683 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1684 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1685 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1686 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1687 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1688 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1689 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1690 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1696 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1697 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1698 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1699 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1700 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1701 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1702 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1703 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1704 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1705 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1706 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1707 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1708 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1709 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1710 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1711 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1712 * Non-ASCII Group Names:: Accessing groups of non-English names.
1713 * Searching:: Mail search engines.
1714 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1718 @node Group Buffer Format
1719 @section Group Buffer Format
1722 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1723 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
1724 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1727 You can customize the Group Mode tool bar, see @kbd{M-x
1728 customize-apropos RET gnus-group-tool-bar}. This feature is only
1731 The tool bar icons are now (de)activated correctly depending on the
1732 cursor position. Therefore, moving around in the Group Buffer is
1733 slower. You can disable this via the variable
1734 @code{gnus-group-update-tool-bar}. Its default value depends on your
1737 @node Group Line Specification
1738 @subsection Group Line Specification
1739 @cindex group buffer format
1741 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1742 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1744 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1747 25: news.announce.newusers
1748 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1753 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1754 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1755 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1756 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1758 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1759 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1760 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1761 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1762 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1763 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1765 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1767 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1768 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1769 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1770 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1771 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1773 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1774 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1775 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1777 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1782 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1785 Whether the group is subscribed.
1788 Level of subscribedness.
1791 Number of unread articles.
1794 Number of dormant articles.
1797 Number of ticked articles.
1800 Number of read articles.
1803 Number of unseen articles.
1806 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1807 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1809 Gnus uses this estimation because the @acronym{NNTP} protocol provides
1810 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1811 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1812 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1813 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1814 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1815 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job.
1817 The nnml backend (@pxref{Mail Spool}) has a feature called ``group
1818 compaction'' which circumvents this deficiency: the idea is to
1819 renumber all articles from 1, removing all gaps between numbers, hence
1820 getting a correct total count. Other backends may support this in the
1821 future. In order to keep your total article count relatively up to
1822 date, you might want to compact your groups (or even directly your
1823 server) from time to time. @xref{Misc Group Stuff}, @xref{Server Commands}.
1826 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1829 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1838 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1839 comment element in the group parameters.
1842 Newsgroup description. You need to read the group descriptions
1843 before these will appear, and to do that, you either have to set
1844 @code{gnus-read-active-file} or use the group buffer @kbd{M-d}
1848 @samp{m} if moderated.
1851 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1857 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1863 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1867 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1870 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1871 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1872 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1873 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1874 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1877 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1879 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1883 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1886 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1890 The disk space used by the articles fetched by both the cache and
1891 agent. The value is automatically scaled to bytes(B), kilobytes(K),
1892 megabytes(M), or gigabytes(G) to minimize the column width. A format
1893 of %7F is sufficient for a fixed-width column.
1896 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1897 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1898 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1899 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1900 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1901 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1906 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1907 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1908 group, or a bogus native group.
1911 @node Group Mode Line Specification
1912 @subsection Group Mode Line Specification
1913 @cindex group mode line
1915 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1916 The mode line can be changed by setting
1917 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1918 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1922 The native news server.
1924 The native select method.
1928 @node Group Highlighting
1929 @subsection Group Highlighting
1930 @cindex highlighting
1931 @cindex group highlighting
1933 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1934 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1935 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1936 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1937 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1939 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1943 (cond (window-system
1944 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1945 (defface my-group-face-1
1946 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1947 (defface my-group-face-2
1948 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t)))
1949 "Second group face")
1950 (defface my-group-face-3
1951 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1952 (defface my-group-face-4
1953 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1954 (defface my-group-face-5
1955 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1957 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1958 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1959 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1960 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1961 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1962 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1965 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1967 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1974 The number of unread articles in the group.
1978 Whether the group is a mail group.
1980 The level of the group.
1982 The score of the group.
1984 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1986 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
1987 @var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
1989 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1990 topic being inserted.
1993 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1994 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1995 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1997 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1998 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1999 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
2000 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
2001 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
2004 @node Group Maneuvering
2005 @section Group Maneuvering
2006 @cindex group movement
2008 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
2009 expected, hopefully.
2015 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
2016 Go to the next group that has unread articles
2017 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
2023 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
2024 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
2025 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
2029 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2030 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2034 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2035 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2039 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2040 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2041 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2045 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2046 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2047 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2050 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2056 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2057 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2058 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2063 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2064 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2065 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2069 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2070 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2071 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2074 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2075 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2076 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2077 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2080 @vindex gnus-summary-next-group-on-exit
2081 If @code{gnus-summary-next-group-on-exit} is @code{t}, when a summary is
2082 exited, the point in the group buffer is moved to the next unread group.
2083 Otherwise, the point is set to the group just exited. The default is
2086 @node Selecting a Group
2087 @section Selecting a Group
2088 @cindex group selection
2093 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2094 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2095 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2096 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2097 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2098 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2099 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
2100 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
2101 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
2102 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
2104 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2105 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2106 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2108 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2109 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2114 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2115 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2116 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2117 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2118 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2122 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2123 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2124 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2125 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2126 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2127 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2128 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2129 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2130 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2131 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2134 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2135 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2136 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2137 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2138 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2141 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2142 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2143 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2144 doing any processing of its contents
2145 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2146 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2147 manner will have no permanent effects.
2151 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2152 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should
2153 consider to be a big group. If it is @code{nil}, no groups are
2154 considered big. The default value is 200. If the group has more
2155 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2156 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many
2157 articles should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a
2158 negative number (@var{-n}), the @var{n} oldest articles will be
2159 fetched. If it is positive, the @var{n} articles that have arrived
2160 most recently will be fetched.
2162 @vindex gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup
2163 @code{gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup} is the same as
2164 @code{gnus-large-newsgroup}, but is only used for ephemeral
2167 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles
2168 In groups in some news servers, there might be a big gap between a few
2169 very old articles that will never be expired and the recent ones. In
2170 such a case, the server will return the data like @code{(1 . 30000000)}
2171 for the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, for example. Even if there
2172 are actually only the articles 1-10 and 29999900-30000000, Gnus doesn't
2173 know it at first and prepares for getting 30000000 articles. However,
2174 it will consume hundreds megabytes of memories and might make Emacs get
2175 stuck as the case may be. If you use such news servers, set the
2176 variable @code{gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles} to a positive number.
2177 The value means that Gnus ignores articles other than this number of the
2178 latest ones in every group. For instance, the value 10000 makes Gnus
2179 get only the articles 29990001-30000000 (if the latest article number is
2180 30000000 in a group). Note that setting this variable to a number might
2181 prevent you from reading very old articles. The default value of the
2182 variable @code{gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles} is @code{nil}, which
2183 means Gnus never ignores old articles.
2185 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2186 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2187 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2188 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2189 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2190 Which article this is controlled by the
2191 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2197 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2200 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2203 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2205 @item unseen-or-unread
2206 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2207 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2211 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2215 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2216 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2218 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2219 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2220 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2221 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2225 @node Subscription Commands
2226 @section Subscription Commands
2227 @cindex subscription
2235 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2236 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2237 Toggle subscription to the current group
2238 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2244 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2245 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2246 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2247 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2253 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2254 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2255 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2261 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2262 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2265 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2266 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2267 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2268 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2269 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2275 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2276 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2280 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2281 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2284 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2285 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2286 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2287 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2288 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2289 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2290 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2291 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2292 @file{.newsrc} file.
2296 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2306 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2307 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2308 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2309 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2310 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2311 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2316 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2317 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2318 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2322 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2323 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2324 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2326 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2327 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2328 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2329 If you have switched from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another, all your marks
2330 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2331 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2338 @section Group Levels
2342 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2343 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2344 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2345 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2346 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2348 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2354 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2355 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2356 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2357 prompted for a level.
2360 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2361 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2362 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2363 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2364 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2365 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2366 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2367 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2368 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2369 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2370 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2371 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2372 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2373 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2374 reasons of efficiency.
2376 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2377 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2379 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2380 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2381 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2382 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2383 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2384 groups are hidden, in a way.
2386 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2387 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2388 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2389 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2390 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2391 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2393 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2394 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2395 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2396 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2397 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2398 list of killed groups.)
2400 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2401 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2402 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2404 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2405 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2406 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2407 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2408 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2409 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2410 relevant valid ranges.
2412 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2413 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2414 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2415 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2416 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2417 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2420 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2421 one with the best level.
2423 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2424 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2425 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2428 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2429 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2430 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2431 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2434 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2435 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2436 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2437 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2439 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2440 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2441 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2442 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2443 to 5. The default is 6.
2447 @section Group Score
2452 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2453 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2454 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2457 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2458 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2459 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2460 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2461 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2462 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2463 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2464 least significant part.))
2466 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2467 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2468 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2469 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2470 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2471 action after each summary exit, you can add
2472 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2473 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2474 slow things down somewhat.
2477 @node Marking Groups
2478 @section Marking Groups
2479 @cindex marking groups
2481 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2482 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2483 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2484 bidding on those groups.
2486 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2487 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2488 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2496 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2497 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2503 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2504 Remove the mark from the current group
2505 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2509 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2510 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2514 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2515 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2519 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2520 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2524 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2525 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2526 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2529 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2531 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2532 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2533 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2534 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2535 the command to be executed.
2538 @node Foreign Groups
2539 @section Foreign Groups
2540 @cindex foreign groups
2542 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2543 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2544 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2545 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2548 Changes from the group editing commands are stored in
2549 @file{~/.newsrc.eld} (@code{gnus-startup-file}). An alternative is the
2550 variable @code{gnus-parameters}, @xref{Group Parameters}.
2556 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2557 @cindex making groups
2558 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2559 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2560 to subscribe to @acronym{NNTP} groups (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
2564 @findex gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group
2565 Make an ephemeral group (@code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group}). Gnus
2566 will prompt you for a name, a method and an @dfn{address}.
2570 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2571 @cindex renaming groups
2572 Rename the current group to something else
2573 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2574 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2580 @findex gnus-group-customize
2581 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2585 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2586 @cindex renaming groups
2587 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2588 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2592 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2593 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2594 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2598 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2599 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2600 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2604 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2606 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2607 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2612 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2613 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2617 @cindex (ding) archive
2618 @cindex archive group
2619 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2620 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2621 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2622 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2623 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2624 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2625 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2629 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2631 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2632 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2633 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2634 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2638 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2640 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2641 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2642 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2646 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2647 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2649 Make a group based on some file or other
2650 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2651 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2652 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2653 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2654 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2655 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2656 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2657 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2658 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2662 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2663 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2664 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2665 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2669 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2673 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2674 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2675 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2676 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2677 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2678 @xref{Web Searches}.
2680 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2681 to a particular group by using a match string like
2682 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2686 @findex gnus-group-make-rss-group
2687 Make a group based on an @acronym{RSS} feed
2688 (@code{gnus-group-make-rss-group}). You will be prompted for an URL.
2692 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2693 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2694 This function will delete the current group
2695 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2696 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2697 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2698 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2699 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} groups), though.
2703 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2704 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2705 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2709 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2710 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2711 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2714 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2717 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2718 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2719 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2720 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2721 groups from different @acronym{NNTP} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2722 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2726 The following commands create ephemeral groups. They can be called not
2727 only from the Group buffer, but in any Gnus buffer.
2730 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group
2731 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group
2732 @vindex gnus-gmane-group-download-format
2733 Read an ephemeral group on Gmane.org. The articles are downloaded via
2734 HTTP using the URL specified by @code{gnus-gmane-group-download-format}.
2735 Gnus will prompt you for a group name, the start article number and an
2738 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group-url
2739 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group-url
2740 This command is similar to @code{gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group}, but
2741 the group name and the article number and range are constructed from a
2742 given @acronym{URL}. Supported @acronym{URL} formats include e.g.
2743 @url{http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12300/focus=12399},
2744 @url{http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/},
2745 @url{http://article.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/},
2746 @url{http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/}, and
2747 @url{http://news.gmane.org/group/gmane.foo.bar/thread=12345}.
2749 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group
2750 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group
2751 Read an Emacs bug report in an ephemeral group. Gnus will prompt for a
2752 bug number. The default is the number at point. The @acronym{URL} is
2753 specified in @code{gnus-bug-group-download-format-alist}.
2755 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-debian-bug-group
2756 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-debian-bug-group
2757 Read a Debian bug report in an ephemeral group. Analog to
2758 @code{gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group}.
2761 Some of these command are also useful for article buttons, @xref{Article
2769 '("#\\([0-9]+\\)\\>" 1
2770 (string-match "\\<emacs\\>" (or gnus-newsgroup-name ""))
2771 gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group 1))
2775 @node Group Parameters
2776 @section Group Parameters
2777 @cindex group parameters
2779 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2781 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2782 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2783 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2784 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2785 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2786 Additionally, you can set group parameters via the
2787 @code{gnus-parameters} variable, see below.
2789 Here's an example group parameter list:
2792 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2796 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
2797 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2798 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2799 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2801 Some parameters have correspondent customizable variables, each of which
2802 is an alist of regexps and values.
2804 The following group parameters can be used:
2809 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2812 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2815 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2816 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2817 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2818 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2819 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2821 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2822 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2823 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2824 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2825 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2826 list address instead.
2828 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2832 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2835 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2838 It is totally ignored
2839 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2840 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2842 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2843 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2844 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2845 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2846 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2848 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2849 @cindex mail list groups
2850 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2851 entering summary buffer.
2853 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2858 @cindex Mail-Followup-To
2859 @findex gnus-find-subscribed-addresses
2860 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2861 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2862 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2863 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2864 headers for your posts to these lists. The second step is to put the
2865 following in your @file{.gnus.el}
2868 (setq message-subscribed-address-functions
2869 '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
2872 @xref{Mailing Lists, ,Mailing Lists, message, The Message Manual}, for
2873 a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2877 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2878 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2879 of whether it has any unread articles.
2881 This parameter cannot be set via @code{gnus-parameters}. See
2882 @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} as an alternative.
2884 @item broken-reply-to
2885 @cindex broken-reply-to
2886 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2887 headers in this group are to be ignored, and for the header to be hidden
2888 if @code{reply-to} is part of @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}. This
2889 can be useful if you're reading a mailing list group where the listserv
2890 has inserted @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv
2891 itself. That is broken behavior. So there!
2895 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2896 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2900 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2901 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2902 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2907 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2908 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2909 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2910 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2911 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2912 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2913 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2915 @strong{Caveat}: Adding @code{(gcc-self . t)} to the parameter list of
2916 @code{nntp} groups (or the like) isn't valid. An @code{nntp} server
2917 doesn't accept articles.
2921 @cindex expiring mail
2922 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2923 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2924 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2926 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2929 @cindex total-expire
2930 @cindex expiring mail
2931 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2932 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2933 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2934 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2937 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2941 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2942 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2943 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2944 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2945 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2946 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2947 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2950 @cindex expiry-target
2951 Where expired messages end up. This parameter overrides
2952 @code{nnmail-expiry-target}.
2955 @cindex score file group parameter
2956 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2957 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2958 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2961 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2962 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2963 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2964 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2967 @cindex admin-address
2968 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2969 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2970 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2971 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2975 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2976 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2980 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2983 Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
2984 entering the group with @kbd{C-u @var{integer}}.
2987 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2991 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2993 Here are some examples:
2997 Display only unread articles.
3000 Display everything except expirable articles.
3002 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
3003 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
3007 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
3008 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
3009 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
3010 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
3011 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
3015 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
3016 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
3017 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
3021 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
3022 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
3023 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
3027 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
3028 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
3029 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
3031 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
3033 @item ignored-charsets
3034 @cindex ignored-charset
3035 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
3036 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
3037 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
3039 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
3042 @cindex posting-style
3043 You can store additional posting style information for this group
3044 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
3045 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
3046 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
3047 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
3049 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
3050 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
3051 like this in the group parameters:
3056 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
3057 (signature "Funky Signature"))
3060 If you're using topics to organize your group buffer
3061 (@pxref{Group Topics}), note that posting styles can also be set in
3062 the topics parameters. Posting styles in topic parameters apply to all
3063 groups in this topic. More precisely, the posting-style settings for a
3064 group result from the hierarchical merging of all posting-style
3065 entries in the parameters of this group and all the topics it belongs
3071 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
3072 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
3076 If it is set, and the setting of @code{mail-sources} includes a
3077 @code{group} mail source (@pxref{Mail Sources}), the value is a
3078 mail source for this group.
3082 An item like @code{(banner . @var{regexp})} causes any part of an article
3083 that matches the regular expression @var{regexp} to be stripped. Instead of
3084 @var{regexp}, you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
3085 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
3086 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
3090 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
3091 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
3092 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
3093 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
3095 For example, if the @samp{INBOX.list.sieve} group has the @code{(sieve
3096 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
3097 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
3098 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
3101 if address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com" @{
3102 fileinto "INBOX.list.sieve";
3106 To generate tests for multiple email-addresses use a group parameter
3107 like @code{(sieve address "sender" ("name@@one.org" else@@two.org"))}.
3108 When generating a sieve script (@pxref{Sieve Commands}) Sieve code
3109 like the following is generated:
3112 if address "sender" ["name@@one.org", "else@@two.org"] @{
3113 fileinto "INBOX.list.sieve";
3117 See @pxref{Sieve Commands} for commands and variables that might be of
3118 interest in relation to the sieve parameter.
3120 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve,
3121 Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
3123 @item (agent parameters)
3124 If the agent has been enabled, you can set any of the its parameters
3125 to control the behavior of the agent in individual groups. See Agent
3126 Parameters in @ref{Category Syntax}. Most users will choose to set
3127 agent parameters in either an agent category or group topic to
3128 minimize the configuration effort.
3130 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
3131 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
3132 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
3133 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
3134 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
3135 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
3136 @code{eval}ed there.
3138 Note that this feature sets the variable locally to the summary buffer
3139 if and only if @var{variable} has been bound as a variable. Otherwise,
3140 only evaluating the form will take place. So, you may want to bind the
3141 variable in advance using @code{defvar} or other if the result of the
3142 form needs to be set to it.
3144 But some variables are evaluated in the article buffer, or in the
3145 message buffer (of a reply or followup or otherwise newly created
3146 message). As a workaround, it might help to add the variable in
3147 question to @code{gnus-newsgroup-variables}. @xref{Various Summary
3148 Stuff}. So if you want to set @code{message-from-style} via the group
3149 parameters, then you may need the following statement elsewhere in your
3150 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3153 (add-to-list 'gnus-newsgroup-variables 'message-from-style)
3156 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
3157 A use for this feature is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
3158 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
3161 nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps
3164 has the tag @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this
3165 tag can be removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for
3166 the group by putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")}
3167 into the group parameters for the group.
3169 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function. If you want to
3170 hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put something like
3171 @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that group. If
3172 @code{dummy-variable} has been bound (see above), it will be set to the
3173 (meaningless) result of the @code{(ding)} form.
3175 Alternatively, since the VARIABLE becomes local to the group, this
3176 pattern can be used to temporarily change a hook. For example, if the
3177 following is added to a group parameter
3180 (gnus-summary-prepared-hook
3181 '(lambda nil (local-set-key "d" (local-key-binding "n"))))
3184 when the group is entered, the 'd' key will not mark the article as
3189 @vindex gnus-parameters
3190 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
3191 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect (For this
3192 case see @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} as an alternative.).
3196 (setq gnus-parameters
3198 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3199 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
3200 (gnus-summary-line-format
3201 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
3205 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
3209 (gnus-use-scoring t))
3213 (broken-reply-to . t))))
3216 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
3217 the @code{to-group} example shows.
3219 @vindex gnus-parameters-case-fold-search
3220 By default, whether comparing the group name and one of those regexps
3221 specified in @code{gnus-parameters} is done in a case-sensitive manner
3222 or a case-insensitive manner depends on the value of
3223 @code{case-fold-search} at the time when the comparison is done. The
3224 value of @code{case-fold-search} is typically @code{t}; it means, for
3225 example, the element @code{("INBOX\\.FOO" (total-expire . t))} might be
3226 applied to both the @samp{INBOX.FOO} group and the @samp{INBOX.foo}
3227 group. If you want to make those regexps always case-sensitive, set the
3228 value of the @code{gnus-parameters-case-fold-search} variable to
3229 @code{nil}. Otherwise, set it to @code{t} if you want to compare them
3230 always in a case-insensitive manner.
3232 You can define different sorting to different groups via
3233 @code{gnus-parameters}. Here is an example to sort an @acronym{NNTP}
3234 group by reverse date to see the latest news at the top and an
3235 @acronym{RSS} group by subject. In this example, the first group is the
3236 Debian daily news group @code{gmane.linux.debian.user.news} from
3237 news.gmane.org. The @acronym{RSS} group corresponds to the Debian
3238 weekly news RSS feed
3239 @url{http://packages.debian.org/unstable/newpkg_main.en.rdf},
3245 '(("nntp.*gmane\\.debian\\.user\\.news"
3246 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3247 (gnus-article-sort-functions '((not gnus-article-sort-by-date)))
3248 (gnus-use-adaptive-scoring nil)
3249 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
3251 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3252 (gnus-article-sort-functions 'gnus-article-sort-by-subject)
3253 (gnus-use-adaptive-scoring nil)
3254 (gnus-use-scoring t)
3255 (gnus-score-find-score-files-function 'gnus-score-find-single)
3256 (gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%d %I%(%[ %s %]%)\n"))))
3260 @node Listing Groups
3261 @section Listing Groups
3262 @cindex group listing
3264 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3272 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3273 List all groups that have unread articles
3274 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3275 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3276 only lists groups of level five (i.e.,
3277 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3284 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3285 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3286 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3287 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3288 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3289 unsubscribed groups).
3293 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3294 List all unread groups on a specific level
3295 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3296 with no unread articles.
3300 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3301 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3302 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3303 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3308 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3309 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3313 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3314 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3315 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3319 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3320 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3324 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3325 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3326 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3327 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3328 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3329 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3330 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3331 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3335 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3336 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3337 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3341 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3342 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3343 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3347 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3348 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3352 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3353 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3357 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3358 List groups limited within the current selection
3359 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3363 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3364 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3368 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3369 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3373 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3374 @cindex visible group parameter
3375 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3376 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3377 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3378 get the same effect.
3380 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3381 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3382 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3383 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3384 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3387 @node Sorting Groups
3388 @section Sorting Groups
3389 @cindex sorting groups
3391 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3392 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3393 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3394 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3395 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3396 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3401 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3402 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3403 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3405 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3406 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3407 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3409 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3410 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3411 Sort by group level.
3413 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3414 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3415 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3417 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3418 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3419 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3420 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3422 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3423 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3424 Sort by number of unread articles.
3426 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3427 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3428 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3430 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3431 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3432 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3437 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3438 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3442 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3443 some sorting criteria:
3447 @kindex G S a (Group)
3448 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3449 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3450 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3453 @kindex G S u (Group)
3454 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3455 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3456 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3459 @kindex G S l (Group)
3460 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3461 Sort the group buffer by group level
3462 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3465 @kindex G S v (Group)
3466 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3467 Sort the group buffer by group score
3468 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3471 @kindex G S r (Group)
3472 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3473 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3474 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3477 @kindex G S m (Group)
3478 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3479 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name@*
3480 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3483 @kindex G S n (Group)
3484 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3485 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3486 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3490 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3491 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3493 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3494 commands will sort in reverse order.
3496 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3500 @kindex G P a (Group)
3501 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3502 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3503 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3506 @kindex G P u (Group)
3507 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3508 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3509 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3512 @kindex G P l (Group)
3513 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3514 Sort the groups by group level
3515 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3518 @kindex G P v (Group)
3519 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3520 Sort the groups by group score
3521 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3524 @kindex G P r (Group)
3525 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3526 Sort the groups by group rank
3527 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3530 @kindex G P m (Group)
3531 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3532 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name@*
3533 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3536 @kindex G P n (Group)
3537 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3538 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3539 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3542 @kindex G P s (Group)
3543 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3544 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3548 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3552 @node Group Maintenance
3553 @section Group Maintenance
3554 @cindex bogus groups
3559 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3560 Find bogus groups and delete them
3561 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3565 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3566 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3567 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3568 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3569 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3573 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3574 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3575 @cindex expiring mail
3576 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3577 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3578 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3579 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3582 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3583 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3584 @cindex expiring mail
3585 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3586 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3591 @node Browse Foreign Server
3592 @section Browse Foreign Server
3593 @cindex foreign servers
3594 @cindex browsing servers
3599 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3600 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3601 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3602 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3605 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3606 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3607 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3608 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3610 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3615 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3616 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3620 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3621 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3624 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3625 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3626 Enter the current group and display the first article
3627 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3630 @kindex RET (Browse)
3631 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3632 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3636 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3637 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3638 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3644 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3645 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3649 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3650 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3654 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3655 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3656 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3661 @section Exiting Gnus
3662 @cindex exiting Gnus
3664 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3669 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3670 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3671 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3672 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3676 @findex gnus-group-exit
3677 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3678 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3682 @findex gnus-group-quit
3683 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3684 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3687 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3688 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3689 @vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
3690 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3691 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3692 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3698 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3699 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3700 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3706 @section Group Topics
3709 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3710 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3711 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3712 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3713 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3714 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3718 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3719 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3730 2: alt.religion.emacs
3733 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3735 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3736 13: comp.sources.unix
3739 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3741 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3742 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3743 is a toggling command.)
3745 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3746 dum@dots{} Nice tune, that@dots{} la la la@dots{} What, you're back?
3747 Yes, and now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed
3748 under @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
3751 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3752 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3753 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3756 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3760 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3761 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3762 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3763 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3764 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3768 @node Topic Commands
3769 @subsection Topic Commands
3770 @cindex topic commands
3772 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3773 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3774 definitions slightly.
3776 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3777 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3778 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3779 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3780 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3781 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3783 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3790 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3791 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3792 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3796 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3798 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3799 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3800 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3801 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3804 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3805 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3806 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3807 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3811 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3812 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3813 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3814 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3820 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3821 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3822 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3826 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3827 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3828 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3831 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3832 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the ``cut'' part of cut and paste. Then,
3833 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the ``Gnus''
3834 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the ``paste'' part of cut and
3835 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3837 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3838 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3842 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3843 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3850 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3852 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3853 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3854 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3855 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3856 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3857 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3861 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3867 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3868 Move the current group to some other topic
3869 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3870 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3874 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3875 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3879 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3880 Copy the current group to some other topic
3881 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3882 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3886 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3887 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3888 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3892 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3893 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3894 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3898 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3899 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3900 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3901 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3902 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3903 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3904 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3907 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3908 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3912 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3913 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3914 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3918 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3919 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3920 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3924 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3925 Toggle hiding empty topics
3926 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3930 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3931 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3932 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3933 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3936 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3937 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3938 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3939 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3940 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3943 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3944 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3945 @cindex expiring mail
3946 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3947 expiry process (if any)
3948 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3952 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3953 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3956 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3957 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3958 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3962 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3963 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3964 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3967 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3968 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3969 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3972 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3973 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3974 Go to the previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3978 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3979 @cindex group parameters
3980 @cindex topic parameters
3982 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3983 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3988 @node Topic Variables
3989 @subsection Topic Variables
3990 @cindex topic variables
3992 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3993 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3995 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3996 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3997 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4010 Number of groups in the topic.
4012 Number of unread articles in the topic.
4014 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
4017 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
4018 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
4019 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
4022 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
4023 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
4025 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
4026 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
4027 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
4031 @subsection Topic Sorting
4032 @cindex topic sorting
4034 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
4040 @kindex T S a (Topic)
4041 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
4042 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
4043 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
4046 @kindex T S u (Topic)
4047 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
4048 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
4049 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
4052 @kindex T S l (Topic)
4053 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
4054 Sort the current topic by group level
4055 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
4058 @kindex T S v (Topic)
4059 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
4060 Sort the current topic by group score
4061 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
4064 @kindex T S r (Topic)
4065 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
4066 Sort the current topic by group rank
4067 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
4070 @kindex T S m (Topic)
4071 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
4072 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
4073 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
4076 @kindex T S e (Topic)
4077 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
4078 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
4079 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
4082 @kindex T S s (Topic)
4083 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
4084 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
4085 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
4086 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
4090 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
4091 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
4095 @node Topic Topology
4096 @subsection Topic Topology
4097 @cindex topic topology
4100 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
4107 2: alt.religion.emacs
4110 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
4112 8: comp.binaries.fractals
4113 13: comp.sources.unix
4117 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
4118 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
4119 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
4124 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
4125 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
4129 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
4130 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
4131 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
4132 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
4133 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
4134 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
4136 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
4137 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
4138 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
4141 @node Topic Parameters
4142 @subsection Topic Parameters
4143 @cindex topic parameters
4145 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent
4146 (and ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid
4147 topic parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}). When the agent is
4148 enabled, all agent parameters (See Agent Parameters in @ref{Category
4149 Syntax}) are also valid topic parameters.
4151 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
4156 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
4157 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
4158 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
4161 @item subscribe-level
4162 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
4163 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
4164 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
4168 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
4169 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
4170 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
4171 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
4178 2: alt.religion.emacs
4182 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
4184 8: comp.binaries.fractals
4185 13: comp.sources.unix
4190 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
4191 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
4192 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
4193 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
4194 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
4195 . "religion.SCORE")}.
4197 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
4198 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
4199 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
4200 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
4201 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
4203 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
4204 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
4205 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
4206 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
4207 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
4208 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
4209 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
4210 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
4213 @node Non-ASCII Group Names
4214 @section Accessing groups of non-English names
4215 @cindex non-ascii group names
4217 There are some news servers that provide groups of which the names are
4218 expressed with their native languages in the world. For instance, in a
4219 certain news server there are some newsgroups of which the names are
4220 spelled in Chinese, where people are talking in Chinese. You can, of
4221 course, subscribe to such news groups using Gnus. Currently Gnus
4222 supports non-@acronym{ASCII} group names not only with the @code{nntp}
4223 back end but also with the @code{nnml} back end and the @code{nnrss}
4226 Every such group name is encoded by a certain charset in the server
4227 side (in an @acronym{NNTP} server its administrator determines the
4228 charset, but for groups in the other back ends it is determined by you).
4229 Gnus has to display the decoded ones for you in the group buffer and the
4230 article buffer, and needs to use the encoded ones when communicating
4231 with servers. However, Gnus doesn't know what charset is used for each
4232 non-@acronym{ASCII} group name. The following two variables are just
4233 the ones for telling Gnus what charset should be used for each group:
4236 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4237 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4238 An alist of select methods and charsets. The default value is
4239 @code{nil}. The names of groups in the server specified by that select
4240 method are all supposed to use the corresponding charset. For example:
4243 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4244 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4247 Charsets specified for groups with this variable are preferred to the
4248 ones specified for the same groups with the
4249 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} variable (see below).
4251 A select method can be very long, like:
4255 (nntp-address "news.gmane.org")
4256 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
4257 (nntp-open-connection-function
4258 nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
4259 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
4260 (nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
4261 ("-C" "-t" "-e" "none"))
4262 (nntp-via-address @dots{}))
4265 In that case, you can truncate it into @code{(nntp "gmane")} in this
4266 variable. That is, it is enough to contain only the back end name and
4269 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4270 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4271 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4272 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names.
4273 @code{((".*" . utf-8))} is the default value if UTF-8 is supported,
4274 otherwise the default is @code{nil}. For example:
4277 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4278 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)
4282 Note that this variable is ignored if the match is made with
4283 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist}.
4286 Those two variables are used also to determine the charset for encoding
4287 and decoding non-@acronym{ASCII} group names that are in the back ends
4288 other than @code{nntp}. It means that it is you who determine it. If
4289 you do nothing, the charset used for group names in those back ends will
4290 all be @code{utf-8} because of the last element of
4291 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist}.
4293 There is one more important variable for non-@acronym{ASCII} group
4297 @item nnmail-pathname-coding-system
4298 @vindex nnmail-pathname-coding-system
4299 The value of this variable should be a coding system or @code{nil}. The
4300 default is @code{nil} in Emacs, or is the aliasee of the coding system
4301 named @code{file-name} (a certain coding system of which an alias is
4302 @code{file-name}) in XEmacs.
4304 The @code{nnml} back end, the @code{nnrss} back end, the @acronym{NNTP}
4305 marks feature (@pxref{NNTP marks}), the agent, and the cache use
4306 non-@acronym{ASCII} group names in those files and directories. This
4307 variable overrides the value of @code{file-name-coding-system} which
4308 specifies the coding system used when encoding and decoding those file
4309 names and directory names.
4311 In XEmacs (with the @code{mule} feature), @code{file-name-coding-system}
4312 is the only means to specify the coding system used to encode and decode
4313 file names. On the other hand, Emacs uses the value of
4314 @code{default-file-name-coding-system} if @code{file-name-coding-system}
4315 is @code{nil} or it is bound to the value of
4316 @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system} which is @code{nil}.
4318 Normally the value of @code{default-file-name-coding-system} in Emacs or
4319 @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system} in XEmacs is initialized according
4320 to the locale, so you will need to do nothing if the value is suitable
4321 to encode and decode non-@acronym{ASCII} group names.
4323 The value of this variable (or @code{default-file-name-coding-system})
4324 does not necessarily need to be the same value that is determined by
4325 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} and
4326 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist}.
4328 If @code{default-file-name-coding-system} or this variable is
4329 initialized by default to @code{iso-latin-1} for example, although you
4330 want to subscribe to the groups spelled in Chinese, that is the most
4331 typical case where you have to customize
4332 @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system}. The @code{utf-8} coding system is
4333 a good candidate for it. Otherwise, you may change the locale in your
4334 system so that @code{default-file-name-coding-system} or this variable
4335 may be initialized to an appropriate value.
4338 Note that when you copy or move articles from a non-@acronym{ASCII}
4339 group to another group, the charset used to encode and decode group
4340 names should be the same in both groups. Otherwise the Newsgroups
4341 header will be displayed incorrectly in the article buffer.
4348 * nnir:: Searching on IMAP, with swish, namazu, etc.
4349 * nnmairix:: Searching maildir, MH or mbox with Mairix.
4354 FIXME: This node is a stub.
4356 FIXME: Add a brief overview of Gnus search capabilities. A brief
4357 comparison of nnir, nnmairix, contrib/gnus-namazu would be nice
4360 FIXME: Explain difference to @ref{Searching for Articles}, add reference
4366 FIXME: As a first step, convert the commentary of @file{nnir} to texi.
4370 @subsection nnmairix
4374 This paragraph describes how to set up mairix and the back end
4375 @code{nnmairix} for indexing and searching your mail from within
4376 Gnus. Additionally, you can create permanent ``smart'' groups which are
4377 bound to mairix searches and are automatically updated.
4380 * About mairix:: About the mairix mail search engine
4381 * nnmairix requirements:: What you will need for using nnmairix
4382 * What nnmairix does:: What does nnmairix actually do?
4383 * Setting up mairix:: Set up your mairix installation
4384 * Configuring nnmairix:: Set up the nnmairix back end
4385 * nnmairix keyboard shortcuts:: List of available keyboard shortcuts
4386 * Propagating marks:: How to propagate marks from nnmairix groups
4387 * nnmairix tips and tricks:: Some tips, tricks and examples
4388 * nnmairix caveats:: Some more stuff you might want to know
4391 @c FIXME: The markup in this section might need improvement.
4392 @c E.g. adding @samp, @var, @file, @command, etc.
4393 @c Cf. (info "(texinfo)Indicating")
4396 @subsubsection About mairix
4398 Mairix is a tool for indexing and searching words in locally stored
4399 mail. It was written by Richard Curnow and is licensed under the
4400 GPL. Mairix comes with most popular GNU/Linux distributions, but it also
4401 runs under Windows (with cygwin), Mac OS X and Solaris. The homepage can
4403 @uref{http://www.rpcurnow.force9.co.uk/mairix/index.html}
4405 Though mairix might not be as flexible as other search tools like
4406 swish++ or namazu, which you can use via the @code{nnir} back end, it
4407 has the prime advantage of being incredibly fast. On current systems, it
4408 can easily search through headers and message bodies of thousands and
4409 thousands of mails in well under a second. Building the database
4410 necessary for searching might take a minute or two, but only has to be
4411 done once fully. Afterwards, the updates are done incrementally and
4412 therefore are really fast, too. Additionally, mairix is very easy to set
4415 For maximum speed though, mairix should be used with mails stored in
4416 @code{Maildir} or @code{MH} format (this includes the @code{nnml} back
4417 end), although it also works with mbox. Mairix presents the search
4418 results by populating a @emph{virtual} maildir/MH folder with symlinks
4419 which point to the ``real'' message files (if mbox is used, copies are
4420 made). Since mairix already presents search results in such a virtual
4421 mail folder, it is very well suited for using it as an external program
4422 for creating @emph{smart} mail folders, which represent certain mail
4423 searches. This is similar to a Kiboze group (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}),
4426 @node nnmairix requirements
4427 @subsubsection nnmairix requirements
4429 Mairix searches local mail---that means, mairix absolutely must have
4430 direct access to your mail folders. If your mail resides on another
4431 server (e.g. an @acronym{IMAP} server) and you happen to have shell
4432 access, @code{nnmairix} supports running mairix remotely, e.g. via ssh.
4434 Additionally, @code{nnmairix} only supports the following Gnus back
4435 ends: @code{nnml}, @code{nnmaildir}, and @code{nnimap}. You must use
4436 one of these back ends for using @code{nnmairix}. Other back ends, like
4437 @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnfolder} or @code{nnmh}, won't work.
4439 If you absolutely must use mbox and still want to use @code{nnmairix},
4440 you can set up a local @acronym{IMAP} server, which you then access via
4441 @code{nnimap}. This is a rather massive setup for accessing some mbox
4442 files, so just change to MH or Maildir already... However, if you're
4443 really, really passionate about using mbox, you might want to look into
4444 the package @file{mairix.el}, which comes with Emacs 23.
4446 @node What nnmairix does
4447 @subsubsection What nnmairix does
4449 The back end @code{nnmairix} enables you to call mairix from within Gnus,
4450 either to query mairix with a search term or to update the
4451 database. While visiting a message in the summary buffer, you can use
4452 several pre-defined shortcuts for calling mairix, e.g. to quickly
4453 search for all mails from the sender of the current message or to
4454 display the whole thread associated with the message, even if the
4455 mails are in different folders.
4457 Additionally, you can create permanent @code{nnmairix} groups which are bound
4458 to certain mairix searches. This way, you can easily create a group
4459 containing mails from a certain sender, with a certain subject line or
4460 even for one specific thread based on the Message-ID. If you check for
4461 new mail in these folders (e.g. by pressing @kbd{g} or @kbd{M-g}), they
4462 automatically update themselves by calling mairix.
4464 You might ask why you need @code{nnmairix} at all, since mairix already
4465 creates the group, populates it with links to the mails so that you can
4466 then access it with Gnus, right? Well, this @emph{might} work, but often
4467 does not---at least not without problems. Most probably you will get
4468 strange article counts, and sometimes you might see mails which Gnus
4469 claims have already been canceled and are inaccessible. This is due to
4470 the fact that Gnus isn't really amused when things are happening behind
4471 its back. Another problem can be the mail back end itself, e.g. if you
4472 use mairix with an @acronym{IMAP} server (I had Dovecot complaining
4473 about corrupt index files when mairix changed the contents of the search
4474 group). Using @code{nnmairix} should circumvent these problems.
4476 @code{nnmairix} is not really a mail back end---it's actually more like
4477 a wrapper, sitting between a ``real'' mail back end where mairix stores
4478 the searches and the Gnus front end. You can choose between three
4479 different mail back ends for the mairix folders: @code{nnml},
4480 @code{nnmaildir} or @code{nnimap}. @code{nnmairix} will call the mairix
4481 binary so that the search results are stored in folders named
4482 @code{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>} on this mail back end, but it will
4483 present these folders in the Gnus front end only with @code{<NAME>}.
4484 You can use an existing mail back end where you already store your mail,
4485 but if you're uncomfortable with @code{nnmairix} creating new mail
4486 groups alongside your other mail, you can also create e.g. a new
4487 @code{nnmaildir} or @code{nnml} server exclusively for mairix, but then
4488 make sure those servers do not accidentally receive your new mail
4489 (@pxref{nnmairix caveats}). A special case exists if you want to use
4490 mairix remotely on an IMAP server with @code{nnimap}---here the mairix
4491 folders and your other mail must be on the same @code{nnimap} back end.
4493 @node Setting up mairix
4494 @subsubsection Setting up mairix
4496 First: create a backup of your mail folders (@pxref{nnmairix caveats}).
4498 Setting up mairix is easy: simply create a @file{.mairixrc} file with
4499 (at least) the following entries:
4502 # Your Maildir/MH base folder
4506 This is the base folder for your mails. All the following directories
4507 are relative to this base folder. If you want to use @code{nnmairix}
4508 with @code{nnimap}, this base directory has to point to the mail
4509 directory where the @acronym{IMAP} server stores the mail folders!
4512 maildir= ... your maildir folders which should be indexed ...
4513 mh= ... your nnml/mh folders which should be indexed ...
4514 mbox = ... your mbox files which should be indexed ...
4517 This specifies all your mail folders and mbox files (relative to the
4518 base directory!) you want to index with mairix. Note that the
4519 @code{nnml} back end saves mails in MH format, so you have to put those
4520 directories in the @code{mh} line. See the example at the end of this
4521 section and mairixrc's man-page for further details.
4527 @vindex nnmairix-group-prefix
4528 This should make sure that you don't accidentally index the mairix
4529 search results. You can change the prefix of these folders with the
4530 variable @code{nnmairix-group-prefix}.
4533 mformat= ... 'maildir' or 'mh' ...
4534 database= ... location of database file ...
4537 The @code{format} setting specifies the output format for the mairix
4538 search folder. Set this to @code{mh} if you want to access search results
4539 with @code{nnml}. Otherwise choose @code{maildir}.
4541 To summarize, here is my shortened @file{.mairixrc} file as an example:
4545 maildir=.personal:.work:.logcheck:.sent
4546 mh=../Mail/nnml/*...
4547 mbox=../mboxmail/mailarchive_year*
4550 database=~/.mairixdatabase
4553 In this case, the base directory is @file{~/Maildir}, where all my Maildir
4554 folders are stored. As you can see, the folders are separated by
4555 colons. If you wonder why every folder begins with a dot: this is
4556 because I use Dovecot as @acronym{IMAP} server, which again uses
4557 @code{Maildir++} folders. For testing nnmairix, I also have some
4558 @code{nnml} mail, which is saved in @file{~/Mail/nnml}. Since this has
4559 to be specified relative to the @code{base} directory, the @code{../Mail}
4560 notation is needed. Note that the line ends in @code{*...}, which means
4561 to recursively scan all files under this directory. Without the three
4562 dots, the wildcard @code{*} will not work recursively. I also have some
4563 old mbox files with archived mail lying around in @file{~/mboxmail}.
4564 The other lines should be obvious.
4566 See the man page for @code{mairixrc} for details and further options,
4567 especially regarding wildcard usage, which may be a little different
4568 than you are used to.
4570 Now simply call @code{mairix} to create the index for the first time.
4571 Note that this may take a few minutes, but every following index will do
4572 the updates incrementally and hence is very fast.
4574 @node Configuring nnmairix
4575 @subsubsection Configuring nnmairix
4577 In group mode, type @kbd{G b c}
4578 (@code{nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group}). This will ask you for all
4579 necessary information and create a @code{nnmairix} server as a foreign
4580 server. You will have to specify the following:
4585 The @strong{name} of the @code{nnmairix} server---choose whatever you
4589 The name of the @strong{back end server} where mairix should store its
4590 searches. This must be a full server name, like @code{nnml:mymail}.
4591 Just hit @kbd{TAB} to see the available servers. Currently, servers
4592 which are accessed through @code{nnmaildir}, @code{nnimap} and
4593 @code{nnml} are supported. As explained above, for locally stored
4594 mails, this can be an existing server where you store your mails.
4595 However, you can also create e.g. a new @code{nnmaildir} or @code{nnml}
4596 server exclusively for @code{nnmairix} in your secondary select methods
4597 (@pxref{Finding the News}). If you use a secondary @code{nnml} server
4598 just for mairix, make sure that you explicitly set the server variable
4599 @code{nnml-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}, or you might loose mail
4600 (@pxref{nnmairix caveats}). If you want to use mairix remotely on an
4601 @acronym{IMAP} server, you have to choose the corresponding
4602 @code{nnimap} server here.
4605 @vindex nnmairix-mairix-search-options
4606 The @strong{command} to call the mairix binary. This will usually just
4607 be @code{mairix}, but you can also choose something like @code{ssh
4608 SERVER mairix} if you want to call mairix remotely, e.g. on your
4609 @acronym{IMAP} server. If you want to add some default options to
4610 mairix, you could do this here, but better use the variable
4611 @code{nnmairix-mairix-search-options} instead.
4614 The name of the @strong{default search group}. This will be the group
4615 where all temporary mairix searches are stored, i.e. all searches which
4616 are not bound to permanent @code{nnmairix} groups. Choose whatever you
4620 If the mail back end is @code{nnimap} or @code{nnmaildir}, you will be
4621 asked if you work with @strong{Maildir++}, i.e. with hidden maildir
4622 folders (=beginning with a dot). For example, you have to answer
4623 @samp{yes} here if you work with the Dovecot @acronym{IMAP}
4624 server. Otherwise, you should answer @samp{no} here.
4628 @node nnmairix keyboard shortcuts
4629 @subsubsection nnmairix keyboard shortcuts
4636 @kindex G b c (Group)
4637 @findex nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group
4638 Creates @code{nnmairix} server and default search group for this server
4639 (@code{nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group}). You should have done
4640 this by now (@pxref{Configuring nnmairix}).
4643 @kindex G b s (Group)
4644 @findex nnmairix-search
4645 Prompts for query which is then sent to the mairix binary. Search
4646 results are put into the default search group which is automatically
4647 displayed (@code{nnmairix-search}).
4650 @kindex G b m (Group)
4651 @findex nnmairix-widget-search
4652 Allows you to create a mairix search or a permanent group more
4653 comfortably using graphical widgets, similar to a customization
4654 group. Just try it to see how it works (@code{nnmairix-widget-search}).
4657 @kindex G b i (Group)
4658 @findex nnmairix-search-interactive
4659 Another command for creating a mairix query more comfortably, but uses
4660 only the minibuffer (@code{nnmairix-search-interactive}).
4663 @kindex G b g (Group)
4664 @findex nnmairix-create-search-group
4665 Creates a permanent group which is associated with a search query
4666 (@code{nnmairix-create-search-group}). The @code{nnmairix} back end
4667 automatically calls mairix when you update this group with @kbd{g} or
4671 @kindex G b q (Group)
4672 @findex nnmairix-group-change-query-this-group
4673 Changes the search query for the @code{nnmairix} group under cursor
4674 (@code{nnmairix-group-change-query-this-group}).
4677 @kindex G b t (Group)
4678 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-threads-this-group
4679 Toggles the 'threads' parameter for the @code{nnmairix} group under cursor,
4680 i.e. if you want see the whole threads of the found messages
4681 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-threads-this-group}).
4684 @kindex G b u (Group)
4685 @findex nnmairix-update-database
4686 @vindex nnmairix-mairix-update-options
4687 Calls mairix binary for updating the database
4688 (@code{nnmairix-update-database}). The default parameters are @code{-F}
4689 and @code{-Q} for making this as fast as possible (see variable
4690 @code{nnmairix-mairix-update-options} for defining these default
4694 @kindex G b r (Group)
4695 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-readmarks-this-group
4696 Keep articles in this @code{nnmairix} group always read or unread, or leave the
4697 marks unchanged (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-readmarks-this-group}).
4700 @kindex G b d (Group)
4701 @findex nnmairix-group-delete-recreate-this-group
4702 Recreate @code{nnmairix} group on the ``real'' mail back end
4703 (@code{nnmairix-group-delete-recreate-this-group}). You can do this if
4704 you always get wrong article counts with a @code{nnmairix} group.
4707 @kindex G b a (Group)
4708 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-allowfast-this-group
4709 Toggles the @code{allow-fast} parameters for group under cursor
4710 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-allowfast-this-group}). The default
4711 behavior of @code{nnmairix} is to do a mairix search every time you
4712 update or enter the group. With the @code{allow-fast} parameter set,
4713 mairix will only be called when you explicitly update the group, but not
4714 upon entering. This makes entering the group faster, but it may also
4715 lead to dangling symlinks if something changed between updating and
4716 entering the group which is not yet in the mairix database.
4719 @kindex G b p (Group)
4720 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group
4721 Toggle marks propagation for this group
4722 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group}). (@pxref{Propagating
4726 @kindex G b o (Group)
4727 @findex nnmairix-propagate-marks
4728 Manually propagate marks (@code{nnmairix-propagate-marks}); needed only when
4729 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close} is set to @code{nil}.
4738 @kindex $ m (Summary)
4739 @findex nnmairix-widget-search-from-this-article
4740 Allows you to create a mairix query or group based on the current
4741 message using graphical widgets (same as @code{nnmairix-widget-search})
4742 (@code{nnmairix-widget-search-from-this-article}).
4745 @kindex $ g (Summary)
4746 @findex nnmairix-create-search-group-from-message
4747 Interactively creates a new search group with query based on the current
4748 message, but uses the minibuffer instead of graphical widgets
4749 (@code{nnmairix-create-search-group-from-message}).
4752 @kindex $ t (Summary)
4753 @findex nnmairix-search-thread-this-article
4754 Searches thread for the current article
4755 (@code{nnmairix-search-thread-this-article}). This is effectively a
4756 shortcut for calling @code{nnmairix-search} with @samp{m:msgid} of the
4757 current article and enabled threads.
4760 @kindex $ f (Summary)
4761 @findex nnmairix-search-from-this-article
4762 Searches all messages from sender of the current article
4763 (@code{nnmairix-search-from-this-article}). This is a shortcut for
4764 calling @code{nnmairix-search} with @samp{f:From}.
4767 @kindex $ o (Summary)
4768 @findex nnmairix-goto-original-article
4769 (Only in @code{nnmairix} groups!) Tries determine the group this article
4770 originally came from and displays the article in this group, so that
4771 e.g. replying to this article the correct posting styles/group
4772 parameters are applied (@code{nnmairix-goto-original-article}). This
4773 function will use the registry if available, but can also parse the
4774 article file name as a fallback method.
4777 @kindex $ u (Summary)
4778 @findex nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article
4779 Remove possibly existing tick mark from original article
4780 (@code{nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article}). (@pxref{nnmairix
4785 @node Propagating marks
4786 @subsubsection Propagating marks
4788 First of: you really need a patched mairix binary for using the marks
4789 propagation feature efficiently. Otherwise, you would have to update
4790 the mairix database all the time. You can get the patch at
4792 @uref{http://www.randomsample.de/mairix-maildir-patch.tar}
4794 You need the mairix v0.21 source code for this patch; everything else
4795 is explained in the accompanied readme file. If you don't want to use
4796 marks propagation, you don't have to apply these patches, but they also
4797 fix some annoyances regarding changing maildir flags, so it might still
4800 With the patched mairix binary, you can use @code{nnmairix} as an
4801 alternative to mail splitting (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}). For
4802 example, instead of splitting all mails from @samp{david@@foobar.com}
4803 into a group, you can simply create a search group with the query
4804 @samp{f:david@@foobar.com}. This is actually what ``smart folders'' are
4805 all about: simply put everything in one mail folder and dynamically
4806 create searches instead of splitting. This is more flexible, since you
4807 can dynamically change your folders any time you want to. This also
4808 implies that you will usually read your mails in the @code{nnmairix}
4809 groups instead of your ``real'' mail groups.
4811 There is one problem, though: say you got a new mail from
4812 @samp{david@@foobar.com}; it will now show up in two groups, the
4813 ``real'' group (your INBOX, for example) and in the @code{nnmairix}
4814 search group (provided you have updated the mairix database). Now you
4815 enter the @code{nnmairix} group and read the mail. The mail will be
4816 marked as read, but only in the @code{nnmairix} group---in the ``real''
4817 mail group it will be still shown as unread.
4819 You could now catch up the mail group (@pxref{Group Data}), but this is
4820 tedious and error prone, since you may overlook mails you don't have
4821 created @code{nnmairix} groups for. Of course, you could first use
4822 @code{nnmairix-goto-original-article} (@pxref{nnmairix keyboard
4823 shortcuts}) and then read the mail in the original group, but that's
4824 even more cumbersome.
4826 Clearly, the easiest way would be if marks could somehow be
4827 automatically set for the original article. This is exactly what
4828 @emph{marks propagation} is about.
4830 Marks propagation is deactivated by default. You can activate it for a
4831 certain @code{nnmairix} group with
4832 @code{nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group} (bound to @kbd{G b
4833 p}). This function will warn you if you try to use it with your default
4834 search group; the reason is that the default search group is used for
4835 temporary searches, and it's easy to accidentally propagate marks from
4836 this group. However, you can ignore this warning if you really want to.
4838 With marks propagation enabled, all the marks you set in a @code{nnmairix}
4839 group should now be propagated to the original article. For example,
4840 you can now tick an article (by default with @kbd{!}) and this mark should
4841 magically be set for the original article, too.
4843 A few more remarks which you may or may not want to know:
4845 @vindex nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close
4846 Marks will not be set immediately, but only upon closing a group. This
4847 not only makes marks propagation faster, it also avoids problems with
4848 dangling symlinks when dealing with maildir files (since changing flags
4849 will change the file name). You can also control when to propagate marks
4850 via @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close} (see the doc-string for
4853 Obviously, @code{nnmairix} will have to look up the original group for every
4854 article you want to set marks for. If available, @code{nnmairix} will first use
4855 the registry for determining the original group. The registry is very
4856 fast, hence you should really, really enable the registry when using
4857 marks propagation. If you don't have to worry about RAM and disc space,
4858 set @code{gnus-registry-max-entries} to a large enough value; to be on
4859 the safe side, choose roughly the amount of mails you index with mairix.
4861 @vindex nnmairix-only-use-registry
4862 If you don't want to use the registry or the registry hasn't seen the
4863 original article yet, @code{nnmairix} will use an additional mairix
4864 search for determining the file name of the article. This, of course, is
4865 way slower than the registry---if you set hundreds or even thousands of
4866 marks this way, it might take some time. You can avoid this situation by
4867 setting @code{nnmairix-only-use-registry} to t.
4869 Maybe you also want to propagate marks the other way round, i.e. if you
4870 tick an article in a "real" mail group, you'd like to have the same
4871 article in a @code{nnmairix} group ticked, too. For several good
4872 reasons, this can only be done efficiently if you use maildir. To
4873 immediately contradict myself, let me mention that it WON'T work with
4874 @code{nnmaildir}, since @code{nnmaildir} stores the marks externally and
4875 not in the file name. Therefore, propagating marks to @code{nnmairix}
4876 groups will usually only work if you use an IMAP server which uses
4877 maildir as its file format.
4879 @vindex nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups
4880 If you work with this setup, just set
4881 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups} to @code{t} and see what
4882 happens. If you don't like what you see, just set it to @code{nil} again. One
4883 problem might be that you get a wrong number of unread articles; this
4884 usually happens when you delete or expire articles in the original
4885 groups. When this happens, you can recreate the @code{nnmairix} group on the
4886 back end using @kbd{G b d}.
4888 @node nnmairix tips and tricks
4889 @subsubsection nnmairix tips and tricks
4895 @findex nnmairix-update-groups
4896 I put all my important mail groups at group level 1. The mairix groups
4897 have group level 5, so they do not get checked at start up (@pxref{Group
4900 I use the following to check for mails:
4903 (defun my-check-mail-mairix-update (level)
4905 ;; if no prefix given, set level=1
4906 (gnus-group-get-new-news (or level 1))
4907 (nnmairix-update-groups "mairixsearch" t t)
4908 (gnus-group-list-groups))
4910 (define-key gnus-group-mode-map "g" 'my-check-mail-mairix-update)
4913 Instead of @samp{"mairixsearch"} use the name of your @code{nnmairix}
4914 server. See the doc string for @code{nnmairix-update-groups} for
4918 Example: search group for ticked articles
4920 For example, you can create a group for all ticked articles, where the
4921 articles always stay unread:
4923 Hit @kbd{G b g}, enter group name (e.g. @samp{important}), use
4924 @samp{F:f} as query and do not include threads.
4926 Now activate marks propagation for this group by using @kbd{G b p}. Then
4927 activate the always-unread feature by using @kbd{G b r} twice.
4929 So far so good---but how do you remove the tick marks in the @code{nnmairix}
4930 group? There are two options: You may simply use
4931 @code{nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article} (bound to @kbd{$ u}) to remove
4932 tick marks from the original article. The other possibility is to set
4933 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups} to @code{t}, but see the above
4934 comments about this option. If it works for you, the tick marks should
4935 also exist in the @code{nnmairix} group and you can remove them as usual,
4936 e.g. by marking an article as read.
4938 When you have removed a tick mark from the original article, this
4939 article should vanish from the @code{nnmairix} group after you have updated the
4940 mairix database and updated the group. Fortunately, there is a function
4941 for doing exactly that: @code{nnmairix-update-groups}. See the previous code
4942 snippet and the doc string for details.
4945 Dealing with auto-subscription of mail groups
4947 As described before, all @code{nnmairix} groups are in fact stored on
4948 the mail back end in the form @samp{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>}. You can
4949 see them when you enter the back end server in the server buffer. You
4950 should not subscribe these groups! Unfortunately, these groups will
4951 usually get @emph{auto-subscribed} when you use @code{nnmaildir} or
4952 @code{nnml}, i.e. you will suddenly see groups of the form
4953 @samp{zz_mairix*} pop up in your group buffer. If this happens to you,
4954 simply kill these groups with C-k. For avoiding this, turn off
4955 auto-subscription completely by setting the variable
4956 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups} to @code{nil} (@pxref{Filtering New
4957 Groups}), or if you like to keep this feature use the following kludge
4958 for turning it off for all groups beginning with @samp{zz_}:
4961 (setq gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
4962 "^\\(nnml\\|nnfolder\\|nnmbox\\|nnmh\\|nnbabyl\\|nnmaildir\\).*:\\([^z]\\|z$\\|\\z[^z]\\|zz$\\|zz[^_]\\|zz_$\\).*")
4967 @node nnmairix caveats
4968 @subsubsection nnmairix caveats
4972 You can create a secondary @code{nnml} server just for nnmairix, but then
4973 you have to explicitly set the corresponding server variable
4974 @code{nnml-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}. Otherwise, new mail might get
4975 put into this secondary server (and would never show up again). Here's
4976 an example server definition:
4979 (nnml "mairix" (nnml-directory "mairix") (nnml-get-new-mail nil))
4982 (The @code{nnmaildir} back end also has a server variabe
4983 @code{get-new-mail}, but its default value is @code{nil}, so you don't
4984 have to explicitly set it if you use a @code{nnmaildir} server just for
4988 If you use the Gnus registry: don't use the registry with
4989 @code{nnmairix} groups (put them in
4990 @code{gnus-registry-unfollowed-groups}). Be @emph{extra careful} if
4991 you use @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent}; mails which are
4992 split into @code{nnmairix} groups are usually gone for good as soon as
4993 you check the group for new mail (yes, it has happened to me...).
4996 Therefore: @emph{Never ever} put ``real'' mails into @code{nnmairix}
4997 groups (you shouldn't be able to, anyway).
5000 If you use the Gnus agent (@pxref{Gnus Unplugged}): don't agentize
5001 @code{nnmairix} groups (though I have no idea what happens if you do).
5004 mairix does only support us-ascii characters.
5007 @code{nnmairix} uses a rather brute force method to force Gnus to
5008 completely reread the group on the mail back end after mairix was
5009 called---it simply deletes and re-creates the group on the mail
5010 back end. So far, this has worked for me without any problems, and I
5011 don't see how @code{nnmairix} could delete other mail groups than its
5012 own, but anyway: you really should have a backup of your mail
5016 All necessary information is stored in the group parameters
5017 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). This has the advantage that no active file
5018 is needed, but also implies that when you kill a @code{nnmairix} group,
5019 it is gone for good.
5022 @findex nnmairix-purge-old-groups
5023 If you create and kill a lot of @code{nnmairix} groups, the
5024 ``zz_mairix-*'' groups will accumulate on the mail back end server. To
5025 delete old groups which are no longer needed, call
5026 @code{nnmairix-purge-old-groups}. Note that this assumes that you don't
5027 save any ``real'' mail in folders of the form
5028 @code{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>}. You can change the prefix of
5029 @code{nnmairix} groups by changing the variable
5030 @code{nnmairix-group-prefix}.
5033 The following only applies if you @emph{don't} use the mentioned patch
5034 for mairix (@pxref{Propagating marks}):
5036 A problem can occur when using @code{nnmairix} with maildir folders and
5037 comes with the fact that maildir stores mail flags like @samp{Seen} or
5038 @samp{Replied} by appending chars @samp{S} and @samp{R} to the message
5039 file name, respectively. This implies that currently you would have to
5040 update the mairix database not only when new mail arrives, but also when
5041 mail flags are changing. The same applies to new mails which are indexed
5042 while they are still in the @samp{new} folder but then get moved to
5043 @samp{cur} when Gnus has seen the mail. If you don't update the database
5044 after this has happened, a mairix query can lead to symlinks pointing to
5045 non-existing files. In Gnus, these messages will usually appear with
5046 ``(none)'' entries in the header and can't be accessed. If this happens
5047 to you, using @kbd{G b u} and updating the group will usually fix this.
5051 @node Misc Group Stuff
5052 @section Misc Group Stuff
5055 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
5056 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
5057 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
5058 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
5059 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
5066 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Group)
5067 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
5068 command or better use it as a prefix key. For example:
5071 (define-key gnus-group-mode-map (kbd "v j d")
5074 (gnus-group-jump-to-group "nndraft:drafts")))
5077 On keys reserved for users in Emacs and on keybindings in general
5078 @xref{Keymaps, Keymaps, , emacs, The Emacs Editor}.
5082 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
5083 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
5084 @xref{Server Buffer}.
5088 @findex gnus-group-post-news
5089 Start composing a message (a news by default)
5090 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
5091 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5092 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
5093 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
5094 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
5098 @findex gnus-group-mail
5099 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
5100 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
5101 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5102 @xref{Composing Messages}.
5106 @findex gnus-group-news
5107 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
5108 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
5109 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
5111 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5112 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
5113 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5114 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5115 for this to work though.
5119 @findex gnus-group-compact-group
5121 Compact the group under point (@code{gnus-group-compact-group}).
5122 Currently implemented only in nnml (@pxref{Mail Spool}). This removes
5123 gaps between article numbers, hence getting a correct total article
5128 Variables for the group buffer:
5132 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
5133 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
5134 is called after the group buffer has been
5137 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
5138 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
5139 is called after the group buffer is
5140 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
5143 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
5144 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
5145 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
5146 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
5148 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
5149 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
5150 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
5151 whether they are empty or not.
5155 @node Scanning New Messages
5156 @subsection Scanning New Messages
5157 @cindex new messages
5158 @cindex scanning new news
5164 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
5165 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
5166 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
5167 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
5168 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
5169 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
5174 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
5175 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
5176 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
5177 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
5178 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
5179 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
5180 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
5182 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
5183 @cindex activating groups
5185 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
5186 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
5191 @findex gnus-group-restart
5192 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
5193 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
5194 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
5198 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
5199 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
5201 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
5202 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
5206 @node Group Information
5207 @subsection Group Information
5208 @cindex group information
5209 @cindex information on groups
5216 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
5217 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
5220 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} for the current group
5221 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the @acronym{FAQ}
5222 from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on
5223 a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
5224 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
5225 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be
5226 used for fetching the file.
5228 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
5229 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
5233 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
5234 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
5236 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
5237 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
5240 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
5241 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
5242 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
5246 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
5247 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
5248 @cindex control message
5249 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
5250 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
5251 group if given a prefix argument.
5253 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-@code{nil},
5254 Gnus will open the control messages in a browser using
5255 @code{browse-url}. Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp}
5256 and displayed in an ephemeral group.
5258 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
5259 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed
5260 Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
5264 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
5266 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
5267 @cindex describing groups
5268 @cindex group description
5269 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
5270 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
5271 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
5275 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
5276 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
5277 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
5284 @findex gnus-version
5285 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
5289 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
5290 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
5293 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
5296 @findex gnus-info-find-node
5297 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
5301 @node Group Timestamp
5302 @subsection Group Timestamp
5304 @cindex group timestamps
5306 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
5307 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
5308 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
5311 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
5314 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
5316 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
5317 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
5320 (setq gnus-group-line-format
5321 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
5324 This will result in lines looking like:
5327 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
5328 0: custom 19961002T012713
5331 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
5332 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
5336 (setq gnus-group-line-format
5337 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
5340 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
5341 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
5345 (setq gnus-group-line-format
5346 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
5347 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
5348 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
5350 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
5356 @subsection File Commands
5357 @cindex file commands
5363 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
5364 @vindex gnus-init-file
5365 @cindex reading init file
5366 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
5367 @file{~/.gnus.el}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
5371 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
5372 @cindex saving .newsrc
5373 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
5374 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
5375 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
5378 @c @kindex Z (Group)
5379 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
5380 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
5385 @node Sieve Commands
5386 @subsection Sieve Commands
5387 @cindex group sieve commands
5389 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
5390 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
5391 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
5392 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
5393 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
5395 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
5396 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
5397 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
5398 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
5399 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
5400 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
5401 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
5402 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
5403 regenerate the Sieve script.
5405 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
5406 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
5407 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
5408 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
5409 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
5410 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
5411 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
5412 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
5413 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
5414 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
5417 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
5418 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
5423 @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve, Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
5429 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
5430 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
5431 @cindex generating sieve script
5432 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
5433 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
5437 @findex gnus-sieve-update
5438 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
5439 @cindex updating sieve script
5440 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
5441 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
5442 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
5447 @node Summary Buffer
5448 @chapter Summary Buffer
5449 @cindex summary buffer
5451 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
5452 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
5454 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
5455 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
5457 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
5459 You can customize the Summary Mode tool bar, see @kbd{M-x
5460 customize-apropos RET gnus-summary-tool-bar}. This feature is only
5464 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Summary)
5465 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
5466 command or better use it as a prefix key. For example:
5468 (define-key gnus-summary-mode-map (kbd "v -") "LrS") ;; lower subthread
5472 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
5473 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
5474 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
5475 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
5476 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
5477 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
5478 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
5479 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
5480 * Threading:: How threads are made.
5481 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
5482 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
5483 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
5484 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
5485 * Sticky Articles:: Article buffers that are not reused.
5486 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
5487 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
5488 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
5489 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
5490 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
5491 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
5492 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
5493 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
5494 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
5495 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
5496 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
5497 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
5498 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
5499 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
5500 or reselecting the current group.
5501 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
5502 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
5503 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
5504 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
5508 @node Summary Buffer Format
5509 @section Summary Buffer Format
5510 @cindex summary buffer format
5514 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
5515 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
5516 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
5522 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
5523 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
5524 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
5525 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
5528 @findex mail-extract-address-components
5529 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
5530 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
5531 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
5532 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
5533 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
5534 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
5535 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
5536 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
5537 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
5538 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
5541 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
5542 'mail-extract-address-components)
5545 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
5546 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
5547 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
5548 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
5551 @node Summary Buffer Lines
5552 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
5554 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
5555 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
5556 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
5557 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
5558 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
5560 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
5561 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
5562 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
5563 possible to change this. Just write a new function
5564 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
5565 @xref{Positioning Point}.
5567 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
5569 The following format specification characters and extended format
5570 specification(s) are understood:
5576 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
5577 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
5579 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
5580 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
5581 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
5583 Full @code{From} header.
5585 The name (from the @code{From} header).
5587 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
5590 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
5591 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
5592 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
5593 may be more thorough.
5595 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
5598 Number of lines in the article.
5600 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
5601 in some methods (like nnfolder).
5603 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
5604 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
5606 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
5608 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
5609 lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
5622 You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
5623 that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
5624 replacing the default @acronym{ASCII} characters with graphic
5625 line-drawing glyphs.
5627 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
5628 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
5629 Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
5630 instead. The default is @samp{> }.
5632 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
5633 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
5634 Used for the false root of a thread (@pxref{Loose Threads}). If
5635 @code{nil}, use subject instead. The default is @samp{> }.
5637 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
5638 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
5639 Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
5640 instead. The default is @samp{}.
5642 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
5643 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
5644 Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
5646 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
5647 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
5648 Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
5650 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
5651 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
5652 Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
5654 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
5655 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
5656 Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
5661 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
5662 pushes everything after it off the screen).
5664 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
5665 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
5667 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
5668 for adopted articles.
5670 One space for each thread level.
5672 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
5674 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
5677 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
5678 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
5679 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
5682 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
5684 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
5685 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
5686 default level. If the difference between
5687 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
5688 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
5696 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
5698 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
5704 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
5705 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
5707 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
5708 article has any children.
5714 Desired cursor position (instead of after first colon).
5716 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
5717 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
5719 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
5720 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
5721 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{x}}, where @var{x} is the letter
5722 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
5723 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
5724 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
5727 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
5728 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
5729 There can only be one such area.
5731 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
5732 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
5733 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
5734 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
5735 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
5736 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
5738 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
5739 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
5741 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
5744 @node To From Newsgroups
5745 @subsection To From Newsgroups
5749 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
5750 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
5751 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
5752 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
5753 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
5757 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
5758 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
5759 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
5763 (setq gnus-extra-headers
5764 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
5767 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
5768 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
5771 @findex gnus-extra-header
5772 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
5773 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
5774 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
5777 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
5781 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
5782 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
5783 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
5784 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
5785 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
5786 headers are used instead.
5788 To distinguish regular articles from those where the @code{From} field
5789 has been swapped, a string is prefixed to the @code{To} or
5790 @code{Newsgroups} header in the summary line. By default the string is
5791 @samp{-> } for @code{To} and @samp{=> } for @code{Newsgroups}, you can
5792 customize these strings with @code{gnus-summary-to-prefix} and
5793 @code{gnus-summary-newsgroup-prefix}.
5797 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
5798 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
5799 to include extra headers when generating overview (@acronym{NOV}) files.
5800 If you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after
5801 changing this variable, by entering the server buffer using @kbd{^},
5802 and then @kbd{g} on the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause
5805 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
5806 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
5807 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
5808 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
5810 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
5814 (setq gnus-extra-headers
5816 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
5817 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
5818 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
5819 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
5823 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
5826 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
5827 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
5830 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
5831 the @acronym{NOV} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
5832 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
5838 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
5839 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
5842 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
5843 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
5845 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
5846 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
5847 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
5848 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
5850 Here are the elements you can play with:
5856 Unprefixed group name.
5858 Current article number.
5860 Current article score.
5864 Number of unread articles in this group.
5866 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
5869 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
5870 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
5871 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
5872 and no unselected ones.
5874 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
5875 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
5877 Subject of the current article.
5879 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
5881 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
5883 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
5885 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
5887 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
5889 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
5893 @node Summary Highlighting
5894 @subsection Summary Highlighting
5898 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
5899 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
5900 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
5901 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
5902 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
5904 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
5905 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
5906 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
5907 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
5909 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
5910 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
5911 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
5912 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
5914 @item gnus-summary-highlight
5915 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
5916 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
5917 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
5918 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
5919 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
5922 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
5923 ((> score default) . bold))
5925 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
5926 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
5930 @node Summary Maneuvering
5931 @section Summary Maneuvering
5932 @cindex summary movement
5934 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
5935 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
5937 None of these commands select articles.
5942 @kindex M-n (Summary)
5943 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
5944 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
5945 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
5946 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
5950 @kindex M-p (Summary)
5951 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
5952 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
5953 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
5954 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
5957 @kindex G g (Summary)
5958 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
5959 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
5960 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
5963 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
5964 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
5965 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
5966 to the group buffer.
5968 Variables related to summary movement:
5972 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
5973 @item gnus-auto-select-next
5974 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
5975 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
5976 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
5977 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
5978 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
5979 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
5980 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
5981 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
5982 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
5983 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
5984 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
5985 @pxref{Group Levels}.
5987 @item gnus-auto-select-same
5988 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
5989 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
5990 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
5991 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
5992 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
5993 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
5995 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
5997 @item gnus-summary-check-current
5998 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
5999 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
6000 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
6001 Instead, they will choose the current article.
6003 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
6004 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
6005 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
6006 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
6007 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
6008 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
6009 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
6010 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
6013 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
6014 the given number of lines from the top.
6016 @item gnus-summary-stop-at-end-of-message
6017 @vindex gnus-summary-stop-at-end-of-message
6018 If non-@code{nil}, don't go to the next article when hitting
6019 @kbd{SPC}, and you're at the end of the article.
6024 @node Choosing Articles
6025 @section Choosing Articles
6026 @cindex selecting articles
6029 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
6030 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
6034 @node Choosing Commands
6035 @subsection Choosing Commands
6037 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
6038 and they all select and display an article.
6040 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
6041 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
6045 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
6046 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
6047 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
6048 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
6050 If you have an article window open already and you press @kbd{SPACE}
6051 again, the article will be scrolled. This lets you conveniently
6052 @kbd{SPACE} through an entire newsgroup. @xref{Paging the Article}.
6057 @kindex G n (Summary)
6058 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
6059 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
6060 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
6065 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
6066 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
6067 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
6072 @kindex G N (Summary)
6073 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
6074 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
6079 @kindex G P (Summary)
6080 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
6081 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
6084 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
6085 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
6086 Go to the next article with the same subject
6087 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
6090 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
6091 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
6092 Go to the previous article with the same subject
6093 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
6097 @kindex G f (Summary)
6099 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
6100 Go to the first unread article
6101 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
6105 @kindex G b (Summary)
6107 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
6108 Go to the unread article with the highest score
6109 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
6110 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
6115 @kindex G l (Summary)
6116 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
6117 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
6120 @kindex G o (Summary)
6121 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
6123 @cindex article history
6124 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
6125 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
6126 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
6127 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
6128 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
6129 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
6134 @kindex G j (Summary)
6135 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
6136 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
6137 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
6142 @node Choosing Variables
6143 @subsection Choosing Variables
6145 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
6148 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
6149 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
6150 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
6151 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
6152 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
6153 the server and display it in the article buffer.
6155 @item gnus-select-article-hook
6156 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
6157 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. The default is
6158 @code{nil}. If you would like each article to be saved in the Agent as
6159 you read it, putting @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this
6162 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
6163 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
6164 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
6165 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
6166 @findex gnus-unread-mark
6167 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
6168 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
6169 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
6170 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-read-mark}. The only
6171 articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
6172 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
6173 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
6174 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
6175 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
6180 @node Paging the Article
6181 @section Scrolling the Article
6182 @cindex article scrolling
6187 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
6188 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
6189 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
6190 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
6191 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
6193 @vindex gnus-article-boring-faces
6194 @vindex gnus-article-skip-boring
6195 If @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} is non-@code{nil} and the rest of
6196 the article consists only of citations and signature, then it will be
6197 skipped; the next article will be shown instead. You can customize
6198 what is considered uninteresting with
6199 @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}. You can manually view the article's
6200 pages, no matter how boring, using @kbd{C-M-v}.
6203 @kindex DEL (Summary)
6204 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
6205 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
6208 @kindex RET (Summary)
6209 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
6210 Scroll the current article one line forward
6211 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
6214 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
6215 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
6216 Scroll the current article one line backward
6217 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
6221 @kindex A g (Summary)
6223 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
6224 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
6225 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
6226 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
6227 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
6228 the way it came from the server.
6230 @cindex charset, view article with different charset
6231 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
6232 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
6233 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
6236 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
6241 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
6246 @kindex A < (Summary)
6247 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
6248 Scroll to the beginning of the article
6249 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
6254 @kindex A > (Summary)
6255 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
6256 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
6260 @kindex A s (Summary)
6262 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
6263 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
6264 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
6268 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
6269 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
6274 @node Reply Followup and Post
6275 @section Reply, Followup and Post
6278 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
6279 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
6280 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
6281 * Canceling and Superseding::
6285 @node Summary Mail Commands
6286 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
6288 @cindex composing mail
6290 Commands for composing a mail message:
6296 @kindex S r (Summary)
6298 @findex gnus-summary-reply
6299 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
6300 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
6301 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
6302 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
6307 @kindex S R (Summary)
6308 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
6309 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
6310 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
6311 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
6312 command uses the process/prefix convention.
6315 @kindex S w (Summary)
6316 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
6317 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
6318 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
6319 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
6320 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers. If @code{Mail-Followup-To} is
6321 present, that's used instead.
6324 @kindex S W (Summary)
6325 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
6326 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
6327 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
6328 the process/prefix convention, but only uses the headers from the
6329 first article to determine the recipients.
6332 @kindex S v (Summary)
6333 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
6334 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
6335 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
6336 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
6337 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
6338 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
6341 @kindex S V (Summary)
6342 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
6343 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
6344 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
6345 command uses the process/prefix convention.
6348 @kindex S B r (Summary)
6349 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
6350 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
6351 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
6352 If you need this because a mailing list incorrectly sets a
6353 @code{Reply-To} header pointing to the list, you probably want to set
6354 the @code{broken-reply-to} group parameter instead, so things will work
6355 correctly. @xref{Group Parameters}.
6358 @kindex S B R (Summary)
6359 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
6360 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
6361 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
6362 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
6366 @kindex S o m (Summary)
6367 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
6368 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
6369 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
6370 Forward the current article to some other person
6371 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
6372 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
6373 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
6374 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
6375 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
6376 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
6377 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
6378 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
6379 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME}
6385 @kindex S m (Summary)
6386 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
6387 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
6388 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
6389 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
6390 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
6393 @kindex S i (Summary)
6394 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
6395 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
6396 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
6397 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
6399 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
6400 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
6401 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
6402 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
6403 for this to work though.
6406 @kindex S D b (Summary)
6407 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
6408 @cindex bouncing mail
6409 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
6410 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
6411 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
6412 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
6413 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
6414 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
6415 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
6416 very well fail, though.
6419 @kindex S D r (Summary)
6420 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
6421 Not to be confused with the previous command,
6422 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
6423 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
6424 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
6425 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
6426 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
6427 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
6428 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
6430 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
6431 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
6432 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
6433 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
6434 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
6436 This command understands the process/prefix convention
6437 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6440 @kindex S D e (Summary)
6441 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message-edit
6443 Like the previous command, but will allow you to edit the message as
6444 if it were a new message before resending.
6447 @kindex S O m (Summary)
6448 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
6449 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
6450 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
6451 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6454 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
6455 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
6456 @cindex crossposting
6457 @cindex excessive crossposting
6458 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
6459 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
6461 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
6462 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
6463 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
6464 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
6465 command understands the process/prefix convention
6466 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
6470 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
6471 Manual}, for more information.
6474 @node Summary Post Commands
6475 @subsection Summary Post Commands
6477 @cindex composing news
6479 Commands for posting a news article:
6485 @kindex S p (Summary)
6486 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
6487 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
6488 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
6489 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
6490 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
6495 @kindex S f (Summary)
6496 @findex gnus-summary-followup
6497 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
6498 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
6502 @kindex S F (Summary)
6504 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
6505 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
6506 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
6507 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
6508 process/prefix convention.
6511 @kindex S n (Summary)
6512 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
6513 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
6514 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
6517 @kindex S N (Summary)
6518 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
6519 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
6520 message through mail and include the original message
6521 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
6522 the process/prefix convention.
6525 @kindex S o p (Summary)
6526 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
6527 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
6528 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
6529 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
6530 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
6531 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
6532 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
6533 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
6534 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
6535 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
6536 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
6537 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section.
6540 @kindex S O p (Summary)
6541 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
6543 @cindex making digests
6544 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
6545 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-post-forward}). This command uses the
6546 process/prefix convention.
6549 @kindex S u (Summary)
6550 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
6551 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
6552 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
6553 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
6556 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
6557 Manual}, for more information.
6560 @node Summary Message Commands
6561 @subsection Summary Message Commands
6565 @kindex S y (Summary)
6566 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
6567 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
6568 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
6569 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
6570 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6575 @node Canceling and Superseding
6576 @subsection Canceling Articles
6577 @cindex canceling articles
6578 @cindex superseding articles
6580 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
6581 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
6583 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
6585 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
6587 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
6588 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
6589 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
6590 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
6591 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
6592 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6594 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
6595 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
6598 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
6599 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
6600 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
6602 Gnus ensures that only you can cancel your own messages using a
6603 @code{Cancel-Lock} header (@pxref{Canceling News, Canceling News, ,
6604 message, Message Manual}).
6606 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
6607 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
6608 your original article.
6610 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
6612 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
6613 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
6614 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
6617 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
6618 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
6619 have posted almost the same article twice.
6621 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
6622 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
6623 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
6624 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
6625 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
6626 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
6627 header by substituting one of those words for the word
6628 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
6629 you would do normally. The previous article will be
6630 canceled/superseded.
6632 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
6634 @node Delayed Articles
6635 @section Delayed Articles
6636 @cindex delayed sending
6637 @cindex send delayed
6639 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
6640 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
6641 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
6642 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
6645 (gnus-delay-initialize)
6648 @findex gnus-delay-article
6649 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
6650 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
6651 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
6652 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
6656 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
6657 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
6658 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
6659 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
6662 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
6663 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
6664 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
6667 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
6668 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
6669 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
6670 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
6671 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
6672 that means a time tomorrow.
6675 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
6676 couple of variables:
6679 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
6680 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
6681 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
6682 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
6684 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
6685 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
6686 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
6687 formats described above.
6689 @item gnus-delay-group
6690 @vindex gnus-delay-group
6691 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
6692 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
6693 value is @code{"delayed"}.
6695 @item gnus-delay-header
6696 @vindex gnus-delay-header
6697 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
6698 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
6699 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
6702 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
6703 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
6704 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
6705 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
6706 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
6708 @findex gnus-delay-send-queue
6709 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
6710 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
6711 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
6712 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
6713 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
6714 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
6717 @item gnus-delay-initialize
6718 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
6719 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
6720 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
6721 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
6722 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
6723 argument is ignored.
6725 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
6726 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
6727 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
6730 When delaying an article with @kbd{C-c C-j}, Message mode will
6731 automatically add a @code{"Date"} header with the current time. In
6732 many cases you probably want the @code{"Date"} header to reflect the
6733 time the message is sent instead. To do this, you have to delete
6734 @code{Date} from @code{message-draft-headers}.
6737 @node Marking Articles
6738 @section Marking Articles
6739 @cindex article marking
6740 @cindex article ticking
6743 There are several marks you can set on an article.
6745 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
6746 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
6747 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
6749 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
6752 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks.
6756 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
6757 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
6758 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
6759 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
6760 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
6761 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
6765 @node Unread Articles
6766 @subsection Unread Articles
6768 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
6773 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
6774 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
6776 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
6777 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
6778 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
6779 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
6780 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
6781 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
6782 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
6785 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
6786 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
6788 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
6789 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
6790 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
6791 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
6795 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
6796 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
6798 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
6803 @subsection Read Articles
6804 @cindex expirable mark
6806 All the following marks mark articles as read.
6811 @vindex gnus-del-mark
6812 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
6813 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
6816 @vindex gnus-read-mark
6817 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
6820 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
6821 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
6822 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
6825 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
6826 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
6829 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
6830 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
6833 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
6834 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
6837 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
6838 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
6841 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
6842 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
6845 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
6846 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
6850 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
6851 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
6852 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
6856 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
6857 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
6859 One more special mark, though:
6863 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
6864 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
6866 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
6867 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
6868 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
6869 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
6875 @subsection Other Marks
6876 @cindex process mark
6879 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
6885 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
6886 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
6887 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
6888 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
6889 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
6892 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
6893 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
6894 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
6895 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
6898 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
6899 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
6900 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
6903 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
6904 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
6905 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
6908 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
6909 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
6910 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
6911 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
6914 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
6915 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
6916 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
6917 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
6918 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
6919 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
6922 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
6923 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
6924 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
6925 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
6928 @vindex gnus-downloaded-mark
6929 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), articles may be
6930 downloaded for unplugged (offline) viewing. If you are using the
6931 @samp{%O} spec, these articles get the @samp{+} mark in that spec.
6932 (The variable @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} controls which character to
6936 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
6937 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), some articles might
6938 not have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you
6939 are unplugged (offline). If you are using the @samp{%O} spec, these
6940 articles get the @samp{-} mark in that spec. (The variable
6941 @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls which character to use.)
6944 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
6945 The Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}) downloads some articles
6946 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
6947 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
6948 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
6949 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
6953 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
6954 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
6955 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
6956 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
6957 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
6960 @vindex gnus-process-mark
6961 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
6962 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
6963 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
6964 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
6965 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
6969 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
6970 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
6971 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
6973 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
6974 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
6975 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
6979 @subsection Setting Marks
6980 @cindex setting marks
6982 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
6987 @kindex M c (Summary)
6988 @kindex M-u (Summary)
6989 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
6990 @cindex mark as unread
6991 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
6992 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
6998 @kindex M t (Summary)
6999 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
7000 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
7001 @xref{Article Caching}.
7006 @kindex M ? (Summary)
7007 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
7008 Mark the current article as dormant
7009 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
7013 @kindex M d (Summary)
7015 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
7016 Mark the current article as read
7017 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
7021 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
7022 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
7023 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
7028 @kindex M k (Summary)
7029 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
7030 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
7031 and then select the next unread article
7032 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
7036 @kindex M K (Summary)
7037 @kindex C-k (Summary)
7038 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
7039 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
7040 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
7043 @kindex M C (Summary)
7044 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
7045 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
7046 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
7049 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
7050 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
7051 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
7052 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
7055 @kindex M H (Summary)
7056 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
7057 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
7058 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
7061 @kindex M h (Summary)
7062 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
7063 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
7064 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
7067 @kindex C-w (Summary)
7068 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
7069 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
7070 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
7073 @kindex M V k (Summary)
7074 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
7075 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
7076 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
7080 @kindex M e (Summary)
7082 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
7083 Mark the current article as expirable
7084 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
7087 @kindex M b (Summary)
7088 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
7089 Set a bookmark in the current article
7090 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
7093 @kindex M B (Summary)
7094 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
7095 Remove the bookmark from the current article
7096 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
7099 @kindex M V c (Summary)
7100 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
7101 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
7102 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
7105 @kindex M V u (Summary)
7106 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
7107 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
7108 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
7111 @kindex M V m (Summary)
7112 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
7113 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
7114 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
7115 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
7118 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
7119 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
7120 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
7121 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
7122 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
7123 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
7124 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
7125 The default is @code{t}.
7128 @node Generic Marking Commands
7129 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
7131 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
7132 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
7133 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
7134 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
7135 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
7138 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
7139 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
7142 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
7143 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
7144 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
7145 to list in this manual.
7147 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
7148 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
7149 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
7150 article, you could say something like:
7154 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
7155 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
7156 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
7164 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
7165 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
7169 @node Setting Process Marks
7170 @subsection Setting Process Marks
7171 @cindex setting process marks
7173 Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
7174 used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
7175 process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
7176 articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
7177 articles into the cache. For more information,
7178 @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
7185 @kindex M P p (Summary)
7186 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
7187 Mark the current article with the process mark
7188 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
7189 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
7193 @kindex M P u (Summary)
7194 @kindex M-# (Summary)
7195 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
7196 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
7199 @kindex M P U (Summary)
7200 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
7201 Remove the process mark from all articles
7202 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
7205 @kindex M P i (Summary)
7206 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
7207 Invert the list of process marked articles
7208 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
7211 @kindex M P R (Summary)
7212 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
7213 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
7214 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
7217 @kindex M P G (Summary)
7218 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
7219 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
7220 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
7223 @kindex M P r (Summary)
7224 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
7225 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
7228 @kindex M P g (Summary)
7229 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
7230 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
7233 @kindex M P t (Summary)
7234 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
7235 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
7236 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
7239 @kindex M P T (Summary)
7240 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
7241 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
7242 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
7245 @kindex M P v (Summary)
7246 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
7247 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
7248 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
7251 @kindex M P s (Summary)
7252 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
7253 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
7256 @kindex M P S (Summary)
7257 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
7258 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
7259 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
7262 @kindex M P a (Summary)
7263 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
7264 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}).
7267 @kindex M P b (Summary)
7268 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
7269 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
7270 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
7273 @kindex M P k (Summary)
7274 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
7275 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
7276 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
7279 @kindex M P y (Summary)
7280 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
7281 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
7282 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
7285 @kindex M P w (Summary)
7286 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
7287 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
7288 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
7292 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @ref{Searching for Articles}, for how to
7293 set process marks based on article body contents.
7300 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
7301 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
7302 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
7305 Limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched from
7306 the servers. These commands don't query the server for additional
7313 @kindex / / (Summary)
7314 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
7315 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
7316 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
7320 @kindex / a (Summary)
7321 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
7322 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
7323 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
7327 @kindex / R (Summary)
7328 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-recipient
7329 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some recipient
7330 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-recipient}). If given a prefix, exclude
7334 @kindex / A (Summary)
7335 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-address
7336 Limit the summary buffer to articles in which contents of From, To or Cc
7337 header match a given address (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-address}). If
7338 given a prefix, exclude matching articles.
7341 @kindex / S (Summary)
7342 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-singletons
7343 Limit the summary buffer to articles that aren't part of any displayed
7344 threads (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-singletons}). If given a prefix,
7345 limit to articles that are part of displayed threads.
7348 @kindex / x (Summary)
7349 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
7350 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
7351 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
7352 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
7357 @kindex / u (Summary)
7359 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
7360 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
7361 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
7362 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
7363 dormant articles will also be excluded.
7366 @kindex / m (Summary)
7367 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
7368 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
7369 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
7372 @kindex / t (Summary)
7373 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
7374 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
7375 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
7376 articles younger than that number of days.
7379 @kindex / n (Summary)
7380 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
7381 With prefix @samp{n}, limit the summary buffer to the next @samp{n}
7382 articles. If not given a prefix, use the process marked articles
7383 instead. (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}).
7386 @kindex / w (Summary)
7387 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
7388 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
7389 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
7393 @kindex / . (Summary)
7394 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
7395 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
7396 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
7399 @kindex / v (Summary)
7400 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
7401 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
7402 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
7405 @kindex / p (Summary)
7406 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
7407 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
7408 group parameter predicate
7409 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). @xref{Group
7410 Parameters}, for more on this predicate.
7413 @kindex / r (Summary)
7414 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-replied
7415 Limit the summary buffer to replied articles
7416 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-replied}). If given a prefix, exclude
7421 @kindex M S (Summary)
7422 @kindex / E (Summary)
7423 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
7424 Include all expunged articles in the limit
7425 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
7428 @kindex / D (Summary)
7429 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
7430 Include all dormant articles in the limit
7431 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
7434 @kindex / * (Summary)
7435 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
7436 Include all cached articles in the limit
7437 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
7440 @kindex / d (Summary)
7441 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
7442 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
7443 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
7446 @kindex / M (Summary)
7447 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
7448 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
7451 @kindex / T (Summary)
7452 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
7453 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
7456 @kindex / c (Summary)
7457 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
7458 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit@*
7459 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
7462 @kindex / C (Summary)
7463 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
7464 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
7465 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
7466 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
7469 @kindex / b (Summary)
7470 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-bodies
7471 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have bodies that match a
7472 certain regexp (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-bodies}). If given a
7473 prefix, reverse the limit. This command is quite slow since it
7474 requires selecting each article to find the matches.
7477 @kindex / h (Summary)
7478 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-headers
7479 Like the previous command, only limit to headers instead
7480 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-headers}).
7485 The following commands aren't limiting commands, but use the @kbd{/}
7490 @kindex / N (Summary)
7491 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
7492 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
7493 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
7496 @kindex / o (Summary)
7497 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
7498 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
7499 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
7507 @cindex article threading
7509 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
7510 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
7511 hierarchical fashion.
7513 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
7514 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
7515 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
7516 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
7517 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
7518 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
7519 @ref{Customizing Threading}.
7521 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
7525 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
7528 A tree-like article structure.
7531 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
7534 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
7535 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
7536 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
7537 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
7538 called loose threads.
7540 @item thread gathering
7541 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
7543 @item sparse threads
7544 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
7545 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
7551 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
7552 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
7556 @node Customizing Threading
7557 @subsection Customizing Threading
7558 @cindex customizing threading
7561 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
7562 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
7563 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
7564 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
7569 @subsubsection Loose Threads
7572 @cindex loose threads
7575 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
7576 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
7577 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
7578 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
7579 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
7580 read or killed the root in a previous session.
7582 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
7583 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
7584 There are four possible values:
7588 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
7589 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
7590 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
7591 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
7592 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
7597 @cindex adopting articles
7602 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
7603 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
7604 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
7605 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
7608 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
7609 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
7610 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
7611 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
7612 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
7613 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
7614 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
7615 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
7616 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
7617 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
7620 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
7621 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
7622 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
7626 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
7627 display them after one another.
7630 Don't gather loose threads.
7633 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
7634 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
7635 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
7636 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
7637 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
7638 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
7639 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
7640 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
7641 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
7642 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
7643 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
7645 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
7646 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
7647 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
7650 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
7651 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
7652 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
7653 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
7654 simplification is used.
7656 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
7657 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
7658 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
7659 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
7661 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
7663 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
7669 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
7670 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
7671 "answer" "reference" "announce"
7672 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
7677 (mapconcat 'identity
7678 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
7680 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
7683 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
7686 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
7687 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
7688 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
7689 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
7690 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
7691 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
7693 Useful functions to put in this list include:
7696 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
7697 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
7698 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
7700 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
7701 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
7704 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
7705 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
7706 Remove excessive whitespace.
7708 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
7709 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
7710 Remove all whitespace.
7713 You may also write your own functions, of course.
7716 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
7717 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
7718 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
7719 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
7720 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
7721 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
7722 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
7723 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
7725 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
7726 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
7727 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
7728 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
7729 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
7730 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
7731 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
7732 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
7733 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
7737 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
7738 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
7739 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
7740 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
7742 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
7743 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
7744 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
7747 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
7751 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
7752 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
7758 @node Filling In Threads
7759 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
7762 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
7763 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
7764 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
7765 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you would
7766 like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still connect as
7767 many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable to
7768 @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than that
7769 number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case, fetching
7770 old headers only works if the back end you are using carries overview
7771 files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
7772 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
7773 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can
7776 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
7777 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
7778 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
7780 The server has to support @acronym{NOV} for any of this to work.
7782 @cindex Gmane, gnus-fetch-old-headers
7783 This feature can seriously impact performance it ignores all locally
7784 cached header entries. Setting it to @code{t} for groups for a server
7785 that doesn't expire articles (such as news.gmane.org), leads to very
7786 slow summary generation.
7788 @item gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
7789 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
7790 Same as @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}, but only used for ephemeral
7793 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
7794 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
7795 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
7796 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
7797 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
7798 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
7799 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
7800 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
7801 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
7802 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
7803 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
7804 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
7805 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
7806 @code{nil} by default.
7808 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
7809 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
7810 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
7811 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
7812 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
7813 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
7816 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
7817 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
7818 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
7823 @node More Threading
7824 @subsubsection More Threading
7827 @item gnus-show-threads
7828 @vindex gnus-show-threads
7829 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
7830 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
7831 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
7832 slower and more awkward.
7834 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
7835 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
7836 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
7839 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
7840 Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
7841 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}.
7846 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
7847 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
7848 gnus-article-unseen-p))
7851 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
7852 unread, but you get my drift.)
7855 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
7856 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
7857 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
7858 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
7859 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
7860 threads are expunged.
7862 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
7863 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
7864 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
7867 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
7868 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
7869 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
7870 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
7871 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
7872 result in a new thread.
7874 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
7875 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
7876 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
7879 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
7880 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
7881 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
7882 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
7883 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
7884 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
7885 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
7886 Setting this variable to an alternate value
7887 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
7888 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
7889 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
7894 @node Low-Level Threading
7895 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
7899 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
7900 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
7901 Hook run before parsing any headers.
7903 @item gnus-alter-header-function
7904 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
7905 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
7906 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
7907 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
7908 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
7909 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
7910 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
7911 meaningful. Here's one example:
7914 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
7916 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
7917 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
7919 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
7921 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
7928 @node Thread Commands
7929 @subsection Thread Commands
7930 @cindex thread commands
7936 @kindex T k (Summary)
7937 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
7938 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
7939 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
7940 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
7941 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
7946 @kindex T l (Summary)
7947 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
7948 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
7949 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
7950 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
7953 @kindex T i (Summary)
7954 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
7955 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
7956 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
7959 @kindex T # (Summary)
7960 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
7961 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
7962 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
7965 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
7966 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
7967 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
7968 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
7971 @kindex T T (Summary)
7972 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
7973 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
7976 @kindex T s (Summary)
7977 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
7978 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any@*
7979 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
7982 @kindex T h (Summary)
7983 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
7984 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
7987 @kindex T S (Summary)
7988 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
7989 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
7992 @kindex T H (Summary)
7993 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
7994 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
7997 @kindex T t (Summary)
7998 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
7999 Re-thread the current article's thread
8000 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
8001 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
8004 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
8005 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
8006 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
8007 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
8010 @kindex T M-^ (Summary)
8011 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-children
8012 Make the current article the parent of the marked articles
8013 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-children}).
8017 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
8018 understand the numeric prefix.
8023 @kindex T n (Summary)
8025 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
8027 @kindex M-down (Summary)
8028 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
8029 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
8032 @kindex T p (Summary)
8034 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
8036 @kindex M-up (Summary)
8037 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
8038 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
8041 @kindex T d (Summary)
8042 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
8043 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
8046 @kindex T u (Summary)
8047 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
8048 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
8051 @kindex T o (Summary)
8052 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
8053 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
8056 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
8057 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
8058 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
8059 a command like @kbd{T k} (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
8060 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
8061 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
8062 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
8063 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
8064 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
8065 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
8066 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
8067 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
8071 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
8072 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
8074 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
8075 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
8076 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
8077 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
8078 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
8079 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-recipient
8080 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
8081 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
8082 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
8083 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number
8084 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date
8085 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
8086 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
8087 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
8088 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
8090 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
8091 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
8092 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-recipient},
8093 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
8094 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date},
8095 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
8096 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
8097 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
8098 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
8099 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
8101 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
8102 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
8103 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
8105 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
8106 last function in the list. You should probably always include
8107 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
8108 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
8109 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
8110 ascending article order.
8112 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
8113 by number, you could do something like:
8116 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
8117 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
8118 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
8119 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
8122 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
8123 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
8124 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
8125 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
8126 which the articles arrived.
8128 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
8132 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
8133 '((not gnus-thread-sort-by-number)
8134 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
8137 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
8138 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
8139 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
8140 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
8143 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
8144 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
8145 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-most-recent-date
8146 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
8147 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
8148 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
8149 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
8150 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
8151 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-most-recent-number
8152 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
8153 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
8154 variable. It is very similar to the
8155 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
8156 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
8157 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
8158 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
8159 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
8160 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
8161 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
8163 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
8167 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
8168 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
8169 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
8172 You can define group specific sorting via @code{gnus-parameters},
8173 @xref{Group Parameters}.
8176 @node Asynchronous Fetching
8177 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
8178 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
8179 @cindex article pre-fetch
8182 If you read your news from an @acronym{NNTP} server that's far away, the
8183 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
8184 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
8185 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
8186 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
8188 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
8189 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
8191 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
8192 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
8193 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
8194 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
8195 connection is blocked.
8197 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
8198 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
8199 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
8200 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
8202 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
8203 the link between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server will become more
8204 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
8205 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
8208 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing@dots{} unless
8211 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
8212 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
8213 happen automatically.
8215 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
8216 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
8217 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
8218 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
8219 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
8220 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
8221 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
8223 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
8224 @findex gnus-async-unread-p
8225 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
8226 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p}
8227 variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This
8228 function should return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is
8229 to be pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-unread-p}, which
8230 returns @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an
8231 article data structure as the only parameter.
8233 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
8234 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
8237 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
8238 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
8239 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
8240 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
8243 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
8246 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
8247 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
8248 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
8250 @vindex gnus-async-post-fetch-function
8251 @findex gnus-html-prefetch-images
8252 After an article has been prefetched, this
8253 @code{gnus-async-post-fetch-function} will be called. The buffer will
8254 be narrowed to the region of the article that was fetched. A useful
8255 value would be @code{gnus-html-prefetch-images}, which will prefetch
8256 and store images referenced in the article, so that you don't have to
8257 wait for them to be fetched when you read the article. This is useful
8258 for @acronym{HTML} messages that have external images.
8260 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
8261 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
8262 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
8263 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
8267 Remove articles when they are read.
8270 Remove articles when exiting the group.
8273 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
8275 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
8276 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
8277 @c from the next group.
8280 @node Article Caching
8281 @section Article Caching
8282 @cindex article caching
8285 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @acronym{NNTP} connection, you may
8286 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
8287 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
8288 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
8289 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
8291 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
8293 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
8294 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
8295 @vindex gnus-use-cache
8296 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
8297 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
8298 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
8299 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
8300 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
8302 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
8303 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
8304 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
8305 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
8306 as dormant, and don't worry.
8308 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
8310 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
8311 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
8312 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
8313 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
8314 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
8315 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
8316 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
8317 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
8318 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
8319 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
8321 @findex gnus-jog-cache
8322 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
8323 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
8324 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
8325 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
8326 command if 1) your connection to the @acronym{NNTP} server is really, really,
8327 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
8328 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
8329 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
8330 not then be downloaded by this command.
8332 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
8333 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
8334 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
8335 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
8336 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
8337 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
8339 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
8340 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
8341 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
8342 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
8343 variables, the group is not cached.
8345 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
8346 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
8347 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
8348 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
8349 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
8350 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
8351 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
8352 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @acronym{NOV}
8353 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
8356 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
8357 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
8358 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
8359 where, isn't that cool?
8361 @node Persistent Articles
8362 @section Persistent Articles
8363 @cindex persistent articles
8365 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
8366 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
8367 useful in my opinion.
8369 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
8370 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
8371 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
8372 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
8373 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
8374 the expiry going on at the news server.
8376 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
8377 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
8378 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
8384 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
8385 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
8388 @kindex M-* (Summary)
8389 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
8390 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
8391 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
8395 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
8397 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
8398 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
8399 interested in persistent articles:
8402 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
8405 @node Sticky Articles
8406 @section Sticky Articles
8407 @cindex sticky articles
8409 When you select an article the current article buffer will be reused
8410 according to the value of the variable
8411 @code{gnus-single-article-buffer}. If its value is non-@code{nil} (the
8412 default) all articles reuse the same article buffer. Else each group
8413 has its own article buffer.
8415 This implies that it's not possible to have more than one article buffer
8416 in a group at a time. But sometimes you might want to display all the
8417 latest emails from your mother, your father, your aunt, your uncle and
8418 your 17 cousins to coordinate the next christmas party.
8420 That's where sticky articles come in handy. A sticky article buffer
8421 basically is a normal article buffer, but it won't be reused when you
8422 select another article. You can make an article sticky with:
8426 @kindex A S (Summary)
8427 @findex gnus-sticky-article
8428 Make the current article sticky. If a prefix arg is given, ask for a
8429 name for this sticky article buffer.
8432 To close a sticky article buffer you can use these commands:
8438 Puts this sticky article buffer at the end of the list of all buffers.
8442 @findex gnus-kill-sticky-article-buffer
8443 Kills this sticky article buffer.
8446 To kill all sticky article buffers you can use:
8448 @defun gnus-kill-sticky-article-buffers ARG
8449 Kill all sticky article buffers.
8450 If a prefix ARG is given, ask for confirmation.
8453 @node Article Backlog
8454 @section Article Backlog
8456 @cindex article backlog
8458 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
8459 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
8460 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
8461 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
8462 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
8463 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
8464 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
8465 increase memory usage some.
8467 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
8468 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
8469 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
8470 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
8471 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
8472 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
8473 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
8475 The default value is 20.
8478 @node Saving Articles
8479 @section Saving Articles
8480 @cindex saving articles
8482 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
8483 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
8484 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
8485 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
8486 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
8488 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
8489 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
8490 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
8492 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
8493 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
8494 unwanted headers before saving the article.
8496 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
8497 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
8498 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
8499 deleted before saving.
8505 @kindex O o (Summary)
8507 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
8508 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
8509 Save the current article using the default article saver
8510 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
8513 @kindex O m (Summary)
8514 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
8515 Save the current article in a Unix mail box (mbox) file
8516 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
8519 @kindex O r (Summary)
8520 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
8521 Save the current article in Rmail format
8522 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}). This is mbox since Emacs 23,
8523 Babyl in older versions.
8526 @kindex O f (Summary)
8527 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
8528 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
8529 Save the current article in plain file format
8530 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
8533 @kindex O F (Summary)
8534 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
8535 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
8536 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
8539 @kindex O b (Summary)
8540 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
8541 Save the current article body in plain file format
8542 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
8545 @kindex O h (Summary)
8546 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
8547 Save the current article in mh folder format
8548 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
8551 @kindex O v (Summary)
8552 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
8553 Save the current article in a VM folder
8554 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
8558 @kindex O p (Summary)
8560 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
8561 @vindex gnus-summary-pipe-output-default-command
8562 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
8563 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
8564 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
8565 complete headers in the piped output. The symbolic prefix @code{r} is
8566 special; it lets this command pipe a raw article including all headers.
8567 The @code{gnus-summary-pipe-output-default-command} variable can be set
8568 to a string containing the default command and options (default
8572 @kindex O P (Summary)
8573 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
8574 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
8575 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
8576 external program @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/,
8577 Muttprint}. The program name and options to use is controlled by the
8578 variable @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}.
8579 (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
8583 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
8584 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
8585 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
8586 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
8587 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
8588 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
8589 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
8590 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
8591 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
8592 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
8593 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
8594 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
8598 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
8599 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
8600 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the eight ready-made
8601 functions below, or you can create your own.
8605 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
8606 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
8607 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
8608 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
8609 This is the default format, that used by the Rmail package. Since Emacs
8610 23, Rmail uses standard mbox format. Before this, it used the
8611 @dfn{Babyl} format. Accordingly, this command writes mbox format since
8612 Emacs 23, unless appending to an existing Babyl file. In older versions
8613 of Emacs, it always uses Babyl format. Uses the function in the
8614 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8615 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
8617 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
8618 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
8619 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
8620 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
8621 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8622 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
8624 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
8625 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
8626 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
8627 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
8628 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
8629 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8630 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
8632 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
8633 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
8634 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
8635 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
8636 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8637 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
8639 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
8640 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
8641 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
8642 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8643 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
8645 @item gnus-summary-write-body-to-file
8646 @findex gnus-summary-write-body-to-file
8647 Write the article body straight to an ordinary file. The file is
8648 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
8649 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8650 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
8652 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
8653 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
8654 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
8655 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
8656 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
8659 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
8660 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
8661 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
8662 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
8663 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
8665 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
8666 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
8667 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
8668 reader to use this setting.
8670 @item gnus-summary-save-in-pipe
8671 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-pipe
8672 Pipe the article to a shell command. This function takes optional two
8673 arguments COMMAND and RAW. Valid values for COMMAND include:
8677 The executable command name and possibly arguments.
8679 You will be prompted for the command in the minibuffer.
8680 @item the symbol @code{default}@*
8681 It will be replaced with the command which the variable
8682 @code{gnus-summary-pipe-output-default-command} holds or the command
8683 last used for saving.
8686 Non-@code{nil} value for RAW overrides @code{:decode} and
8687 @code{:headers} properties (see below) and the raw article including all
8688 headers will be piped.
8691 The symbol of each function may have the following properties:
8695 The value non-@code{nil} means save decoded articles. This is
8696 meaningful only with @code{gnus-summary-save-in-file},
8697 @code{gnus-summary-save-body-in-file},
8698 @code{gnus-summary-write-to-file},
8699 @code{gnus-summary-write-body-to-file}, and
8700 @code{gnus-summary-save-in-pipe}.
8703 The value specifies an alternative function which appends, not
8704 overwrites, articles to a file. This implies that when saving many
8705 articles at a time, @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} is bound to
8706 @code{t} and all articles are saved in a single file. This is
8707 meaningful only with @code{gnus-summary-write-to-file} and
8708 @code{gnus-summary-write-body-to-file}.
8711 The value specifies the symbol of a variable of which the value
8712 specifies headers to be saved. If it is omitted,
8713 @code{gnus-save-all-headers} and @code{gnus-saved-headers} control what
8714 headers should be saved.
8717 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
8718 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
8719 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
8720 @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
8723 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
8724 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
8725 available functions that generate names:
8729 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
8730 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
8731 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
8733 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
8734 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
8735 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
8737 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
8738 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
8739 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
8741 @item gnus-plain-save-name
8742 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
8743 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
8745 @item gnus-sender-save-name
8746 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
8747 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
8750 @vindex gnus-split-methods
8751 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
8752 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
8753 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
8754 related to VM in @file{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
8758 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
8759 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
8760 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
8761 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
8764 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
8765 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
8766 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
8767 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
8768 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
8769 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
8770 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
8771 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
8772 called returns a string or a list of strings.
8774 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
8775 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
8776 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
8777 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
8779 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
8780 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
8781 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
8784 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
8785 lots of mail groups called things like
8786 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
8787 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
8788 following will do just that:
8791 (defun my-save-name (group)
8792 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
8793 (substring group (match-end 0))))
8795 (setq gnus-split-methods
8796 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
8801 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
8802 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
8803 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
8804 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
8805 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
8806 all the files in the top level directory
8807 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
8808 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
8809 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
8810 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
8812 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
8813 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
8814 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
8815 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
8816 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
8819 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
8823 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; @r{to get a hierarchy}
8824 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
8825 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; @r{no encoding}
8828 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
8829 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
8830 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
8831 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
8834 @node Decoding Articles
8835 @section Decoding Articles
8836 @cindex decoding articles
8838 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
8839 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
8842 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
8843 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
8844 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
8845 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
8846 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
8847 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
8851 @cindex article series
8852 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
8853 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
8854 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
8855 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
8856 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
8858 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
8859 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
8860 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
8862 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
8863 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
8864 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
8866 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
8867 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
8868 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
8871 @node Uuencoded Articles
8872 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
8874 @cindex uuencoded articles
8879 @kindex X u (Summary)
8880 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
8881 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
8882 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
8885 @kindex X U (Summary)
8886 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
8887 Uudecodes and saves the current series
8888 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
8891 @kindex X v u (Summary)
8892 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
8893 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
8896 @kindex X v U (Summary)
8897 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
8898 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
8899 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
8903 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
8904 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
8905 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
8906 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
8907 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
8909 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
8910 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
8911 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
8912 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
8915 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
8916 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
8917 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
8918 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
8919 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
8920 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
8924 @node Shell Archives
8925 @subsection Shell Archives
8927 @cindex shell archives
8928 @cindex shared articles
8930 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
8931 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
8932 some commands to deal with these:
8937 @kindex X s (Summary)
8938 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
8939 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
8942 @kindex X S (Summary)
8943 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
8944 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
8947 @kindex X v s (Summary)
8948 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
8949 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
8952 @kindex X v S (Summary)
8953 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
8954 Unshars, views and saves the current series
8955 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
8959 @node PostScript Files
8960 @subsection PostScript Files
8966 @kindex X p (Summary)
8967 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
8968 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
8971 @kindex X P (Summary)
8972 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
8973 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
8974 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
8977 @kindex X v p (Summary)
8978 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
8979 View the current PostScript series
8980 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
8983 @kindex X v P (Summary)
8984 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
8985 View and save the current PostScript series
8986 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
8991 @subsection Other Files
8995 @kindex X o (Summary)
8996 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
8997 Save the current series
8998 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
9001 @kindex X b (Summary)
9002 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
9003 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
9004 doesn't really work yet.
9007 @kindex X Y (Summary)
9008 @findex gnus-uu-decode-yenc
9009 yEnc-decode the current series and save it (@code{gnus-uu-decode-yenc}).
9013 @node Decoding Variables
9014 @subsection Decoding Variables
9016 Adjective, not verb.
9019 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
9020 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
9021 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
9025 @node Rule Variables
9026 @subsubsection Rule Variables
9027 @cindex rule variables
9029 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
9030 variables are of the form
9033 (list '(regexp1 command2)
9040 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
9041 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
9043 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
9044 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @file{.au} sound file, you could
9047 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
9048 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
9051 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
9052 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
9053 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
9054 user and default view rules.
9056 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
9057 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
9058 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
9063 @node Other Decode Variables
9064 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
9067 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
9069 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
9070 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
9071 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
9072 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
9073 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
9077 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
9078 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
9081 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
9082 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
9083 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
9086 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
9087 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
9088 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
9089 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
9090 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
9093 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
9094 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
9095 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
9097 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
9098 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
9099 Files with a @acronym{MIME} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
9100 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
9101 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @acronym{MIME} package (yet), so this is slightly
9104 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
9105 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
9106 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
9108 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
9109 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
9110 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
9111 looking for files to display.
9113 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
9114 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
9115 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
9118 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
9119 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
9120 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
9123 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
9124 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
9125 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
9128 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
9129 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
9130 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
9133 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
9134 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
9135 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
9136 decoded articles as unread.
9138 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
9139 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
9140 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
9141 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
9143 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
9144 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
9145 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
9147 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
9148 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
9150 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
9151 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @acronym{MIME}
9152 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
9153 @code{metamail} for viewing.
9155 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
9156 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
9157 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
9158 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
9159 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
9160 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
9161 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
9162 simply dropped them.
9167 @node Uuencoding and Posting
9168 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
9172 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
9173 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
9174 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
9175 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
9176 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
9177 for you when you post the article.
9179 @item gnus-uu-post-length
9180 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
9181 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
9182 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
9184 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
9185 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
9186 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
9187 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
9188 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
9189 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
9190 think that counts@dots{}) Default is @code{nil}.
9192 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
9193 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
9194 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
9195 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
9196 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
9197 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
9198 Default is @code{t}.
9204 @subsection Viewing Files
9205 @cindex viewing files
9206 @cindex pseudo-articles
9208 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
9209 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
9210 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
9211 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
9212 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
9213 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
9214 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
9216 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
9217 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
9218 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
9219 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
9221 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
9222 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
9223 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
9225 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
9226 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
9227 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
9228 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
9229 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
9231 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
9232 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
9233 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
9234 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
9235 a list of parameters to that command.
9237 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
9238 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
9239 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
9241 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
9242 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
9243 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
9246 @node Article Treatment
9247 @section Article Treatment
9249 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
9250 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
9251 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
9252 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
9253 these articles easier.
9256 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
9257 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
9258 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
9259 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
9260 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
9261 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
9262 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
9263 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
9264 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
9265 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
9266 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
9270 @node Article Highlighting
9271 @subsection Article Highlighting
9272 @cindex highlighting
9274 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
9275 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
9280 @kindex W H a (Summary)
9281 @findex gnus-article-highlight
9282 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
9283 Do much highlighting of the current article
9284 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
9285 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
9288 @kindex W H h (Summary)
9289 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
9290 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
9291 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
9292 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
9293 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
9294 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
9295 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
9296 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
9297 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
9298 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
9299 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
9302 @kindex W H c (Summary)
9303 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
9304 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
9306 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
9309 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
9311 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
9312 If the article size in bytes is bigger than this variable (which is
9313 25000 by default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
9315 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
9316 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
9317 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
9319 @item gnus-cite-face-list
9320 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
9321 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
9322 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
9323 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
9324 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
9326 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
9327 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
9328 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
9330 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
9331 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
9332 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
9334 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
9335 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
9336 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
9337 that it's a citation.
9339 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
9340 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
9341 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
9343 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
9344 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
9345 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
9347 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
9348 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
9349 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
9350 cited text belonging to the attribution.
9352 @item gnus-cite-ignore-quoted-from
9353 @vindex gnus-cite-ignore-quoted-from
9354 If non-@code{nil}, no citation highlighting will be performed on lines
9355 beginning with @samp{>From }. Those lines may have been quoted by MTAs
9356 in order not to mix up with the envelope From line. The default value
9363 @kindex W H s (Summary)
9364 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
9365 @vindex gnus-signature-face
9366 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
9367 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
9368 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
9369 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
9370 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
9375 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
9378 @node Article Fontisizing
9379 @subsection Article Fontisizing
9381 @cindex article emphasis
9383 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
9384 @kindex W e (Summary)
9385 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
9386 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
9387 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
9388 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
9390 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
9391 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
9392 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
9393 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
9394 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
9395 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
9396 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
9397 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
9401 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
9402 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
9403 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
9412 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
9413 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
9414 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
9415 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
9416 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
9417 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
9418 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
9419 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
9420 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
9421 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
9422 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
9423 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
9424 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
9426 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
9427 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
9428 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
9432 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
9435 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
9437 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
9438 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
9439 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
9440 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
9442 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
9445 @node Article Hiding
9446 @subsection Article Hiding
9447 @cindex article hiding
9449 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
9450 too much cruft in most articles.
9455 @kindex W W a (Summary)
9456 @findex gnus-article-hide
9457 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
9458 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
9459 headers, @acronym{PGP}, cited text and the signature.
9462 @kindex W W h (Summary)
9463 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
9464 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
9468 @kindex W W b (Summary)
9469 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
9470 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
9471 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
9474 @kindex W W s (Summary)
9475 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
9476 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
9480 @kindex W W l (Summary)
9481 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
9482 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
9483 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
9484 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
9485 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
9486 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
9487 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
9491 @item gnus-list-identifiers
9492 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
9493 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
9494 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
9499 @kindex W W P (Summary)
9500 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
9501 Hide @acronym{PEM} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
9502 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
9505 @kindex W W B (Summary)
9506 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
9507 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
9508 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
9511 @cindex stripping advertisements
9512 @cindex advertisements
9513 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
9514 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
9515 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
9516 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
9517 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
9518 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
9519 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
9520 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
9521 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
9522 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
9525 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
9526 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
9527 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
9531 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
9532 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
9533 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
9534 @code{(@var{address} . @var{banner})}, where @var{address} is a regexp
9535 matching a mail address in the From header, @var{banner} is one of a
9536 symbol @code{signature}, an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist},
9537 a regexp and @code{nil}. If @var{address} matches author's mail
9538 address, it will remove things like advertisements. For example, if a
9539 sender has the mail address @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a
9540 banner something like @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he
9541 sends, you can use the following element to remove them:
9544 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" .
9545 "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")