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335 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
340 @setchapternewpage odd
347 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
349 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
355 @top The Gnus Newsreader
359 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
360 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@acronym{NNTP}, local
361 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
364 This manual corresponds to Gnus v5.10.6.
375 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
376 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
378 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
379 being accused of plagiarism:
381 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
382 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
383 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
384 can even read news with it!
386 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
387 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
388 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
389 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
390 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
396 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
397 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
398 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
399 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
400 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
401 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
402 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
403 * Various:: General purpose settings.
404 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
405 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, @acronym{FAQ}, History, Internals.
406 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
407 * Key Index:: Key Index.
409 Other related manuals
411 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
412 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
413 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
414 * PGG:(pgg). @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
415 * SASL:(sasl). @acronym{SASL} authentication in Emacs.
418 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
422 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
423 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
424 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
425 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
426 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
427 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
428 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
429 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
430 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
431 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
432 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
436 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
437 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
438 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
442 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
443 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
444 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
445 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
446 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
447 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
448 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
449 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
450 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
451 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
452 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
453 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
454 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
455 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
456 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
457 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
458 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
462 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
463 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
464 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
468 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
469 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
470 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
471 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
472 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
476 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
477 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
478 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
479 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
480 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
484 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
485 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
486 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
487 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
488 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
489 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
490 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
491 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
492 * Threading:: How threads are made.
493 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
494 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
495 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
496 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
497 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
498 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
499 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
500 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
501 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
502 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
503 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
504 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
505 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
506 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
507 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
508 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
509 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
510 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
511 or reselecting the current group.
512 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
513 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
514 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
515 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
517 Summary Buffer Format
519 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
520 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
521 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
522 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
526 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
527 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
529 Reply, Followup and Post
531 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
532 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
533 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
534 * Canceling and Superseding::
538 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
539 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
540 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
541 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
542 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
543 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
547 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
548 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
550 Customizing Threading
552 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
553 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
554 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
555 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
559 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
560 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
561 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
562 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
563 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
564 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
568 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
569 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
570 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
574 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
575 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
576 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
577 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
578 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
579 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
580 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
581 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
582 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
583 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
584 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
586 Alternative Approaches
588 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
589 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
591 Various Summary Stuff
593 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
594 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
595 * Summary Generation Commands::
596 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
600 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
601 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
602 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
603 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
604 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
608 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
609 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
610 * POP before SMTP:: You cannot send a mail unless you read a mail.
611 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
612 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
613 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
614 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
615 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
616 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
620 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
621 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
622 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
623 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
624 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
625 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
626 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
627 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
631 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
632 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
633 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
634 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
635 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
636 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
637 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
641 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
642 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
646 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
647 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
648 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
649 * NNTP marks:: Storing marks for @acronym{NNTP} servers.
653 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
654 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
655 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
656 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
657 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
658 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
659 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
660 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
661 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
662 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
663 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
664 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
665 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
669 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
670 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
671 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
673 Choosing a Mail Back End
675 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
676 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
677 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
678 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
679 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
680 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
681 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
686 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
687 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
688 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
689 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
690 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
691 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
695 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
696 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
697 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
698 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
699 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
700 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
704 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
705 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
706 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
707 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
708 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
712 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
716 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
717 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
718 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
722 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
723 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
727 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
728 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
729 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
730 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
731 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
732 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
733 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
734 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
735 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
736 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
737 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
738 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
739 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
743 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
744 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
745 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
749 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
750 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
751 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
755 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
756 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
757 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
758 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
759 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
760 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
761 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
762 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
763 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
764 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
765 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
766 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
767 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
768 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
769 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
770 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
774 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
775 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
776 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
780 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
781 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
782 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
783 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
784 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
785 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
786 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
787 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
788 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
789 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
790 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
791 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
792 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
793 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
794 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
795 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
796 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
797 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
798 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
799 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
803 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
804 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
805 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
806 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
807 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
808 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
809 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
810 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
814 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
815 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
816 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
817 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
818 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
822 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
823 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
824 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
825 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
826 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
827 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
829 Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
831 * Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events::
832 * Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail::
833 * Spam ELisp Package Global Variables::
834 * Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples::
835 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
837 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
838 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
840 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
842 * SpamAssassin back end::
843 * ifile spam filtering::
844 * spam-stat spam filtering::
846 * Extending the Spam ELisp package::
848 Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
850 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
851 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
852 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
856 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
857 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
858 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
859 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
860 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
861 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
862 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
863 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
864 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
868 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
869 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
870 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
871 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
872 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
873 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
874 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
875 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
876 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
880 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
881 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
882 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
883 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
884 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
885 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
886 * No Gnus:: Lars, FIXME!
890 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
891 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
892 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
893 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
897 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
898 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
899 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
900 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
901 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
902 * Group Info:: The group info format.
903 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
904 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
905 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
909 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
910 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
911 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
912 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
913 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
914 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
918 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
919 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
923 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
924 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
930 @chapter Starting Gnus
935 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
936 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
939 @findex gnus-other-frame
940 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
941 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
942 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
944 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
945 variables in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file. This file is similar to
946 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when Gnus starts.
948 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
949 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
952 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
953 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
954 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
955 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
956 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
957 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
958 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
959 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
960 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
961 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
962 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
966 @node Finding the News
967 @section Finding the News
970 @vindex gnus-select-method
972 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
973 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
974 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
975 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
978 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @acronym{NNTP} server is where
979 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
982 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
985 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
988 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
991 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
992 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
993 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
995 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
997 @cindex @acronym{NNTP} server
998 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
999 @env{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1000 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1001 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter.
1002 If that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs
1003 as an @acronym{NNTP} server. That's a long shot, though.
1005 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1006 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1007 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1008 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1010 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1011 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1012 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1013 @acronym{NNTP} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1014 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
1015 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1016 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1017 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1018 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1021 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1023 However, if you use one @acronym{NNTP} server regularly and are just
1024 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1025 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1026 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1027 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1028 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1030 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1032 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1033 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1034 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1035 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1036 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1037 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1040 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1041 you would typically set this variable to
1044 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1047 Note: the @acronym{NNTP} back end stores marks in marks files
1048 (@pxref{NNTP marks}). This feature makes it easy to share marks between
1049 several Gnus installations, but may slow down things a bit when fetching
1050 new articles. @xref{NNTP marks}, for more information.
1053 @node The First Time
1054 @section The First Time
1055 @cindex first time usage
1057 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
1058 be subscribed by default.
1060 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1061 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
1062 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1063 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1066 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1067 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1068 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1070 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1071 help you with most common problems.
1073 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1074 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1078 @node The Server is Down
1079 @section The Server is Down
1080 @cindex server errors
1082 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1083 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1084 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1086 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1087 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1088 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1089 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1090 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1091 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1092 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1094 @findex gnus-no-server
1095 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1097 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1098 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1099 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1100 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1101 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1102 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1103 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1107 @section Slave Gnusae
1110 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1111 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1112 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1113 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1115 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1116 @file{.newsrc} file.
1118 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1119 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1120 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1121 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1122 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1123 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1124 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1127 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1128 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1129 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1130 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1131 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1132 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1133 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1134 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1136 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1137 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1139 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1140 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1141 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1142 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1143 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1145 @node Fetching a Group
1146 @section Fetching a Group
1147 @cindex fetching a group
1149 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1150 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1151 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
1152 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1153 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1154 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1160 @cindex subscription
1162 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1163 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1164 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1165 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1166 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1167 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1168 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1169 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1170 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1173 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1174 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1175 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1179 @node Checking New Groups
1180 @subsection Checking New Groups
1182 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1183 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1184 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1185 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1186 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1187 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1188 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1189 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1190 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1191 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1193 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1194 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1195 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1196 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1197 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1198 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1199 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1200 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1201 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1202 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1203 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1205 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1206 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1207 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1208 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1209 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1210 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1213 @node Subscription Methods
1214 @subsection Subscription Methods
1216 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1217 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1218 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1220 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1221 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1223 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1227 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1228 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1229 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1230 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1231 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1233 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1234 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1235 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1236 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1238 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1239 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1240 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1242 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1243 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1244 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1245 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1246 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1247 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1248 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1249 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1250 up. Or something like that.
1252 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1253 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1254 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1255 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1256 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1258 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1259 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1260 Kill all new groups.
1262 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1263 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1264 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1265 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1266 topic parameter that looks like
1272 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1275 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1280 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1281 A closely related variable is
1282 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1283 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1284 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1285 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1288 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1289 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1290 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1291 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1294 @node Filtering New Groups
1295 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1297 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1298 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1299 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1302 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1305 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1306 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1307 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1308 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1309 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1310 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1311 subscribing these groups.
1312 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1313 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1315 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1316 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1317 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1318 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1319 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1320 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1321 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1322 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1324 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1325 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1326 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1327 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous,
1328 but I thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is
1329 more meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is
1330 used more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new
1331 groups that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1332 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1333 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1336 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1337 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1340 @node Changing Servers
1341 @section Changing Servers
1342 @cindex changing servers
1344 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another.
1345 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1346 very flaky and you want to use another.
1348 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1349 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1353 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1354 @acronym{NNTP} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1355 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1356 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1359 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1360 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1361 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1362 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1364 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1365 @findex gnus-change-server
1366 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1367 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1368 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1369 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1370 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1372 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1373 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1374 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1375 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1376 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1378 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1379 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1380 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1381 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1382 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1383 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1385 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1386 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1387 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1388 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1390 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1391 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1392 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1393 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1394 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1395 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1396 cache for all groups).
1400 @section Startup Files
1401 @cindex startup files
1406 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1407 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1409 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1410 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1411 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1412 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1413 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1414 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1415 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1417 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1418 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1419 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1420 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1421 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1422 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1424 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1425 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1426 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1427 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1428 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1429 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1430 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1431 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1432 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1433 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1435 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1436 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1437 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1438 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1439 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1440 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1441 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1442 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1443 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1444 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1445 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1446 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1448 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1449 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1450 @vindex version-control
1451 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1452 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1453 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1454 If you want version control for this file, set
1455 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1456 @code{version-control} variable.
1458 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1459 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1460 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1461 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1462 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1463 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1464 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1465 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1466 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1467 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1470 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1471 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1473 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1474 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1477 @vindex gnus-init-file
1478 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1479 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1480 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1481 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1482 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1483 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1484 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1485 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1486 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1487 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1493 @cindex dribble file
1496 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1497 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1498 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1499 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1500 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1503 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1504 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1507 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1508 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1509 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1511 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1512 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1513 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1514 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1515 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1516 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1518 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1519 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1520 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1523 @node The Active File
1524 @section The Active File
1526 @cindex ignored groups
1528 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1529 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1530 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1532 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1533 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1534 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1535 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1536 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1537 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1538 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1541 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1542 @c if you set it to anything else.
1544 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1546 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1547 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1548 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1550 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1551 you actually subscribe to.
1553 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1554 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1555 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1556 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1558 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1559 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1560 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1561 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1562 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1563 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1565 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1566 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1567 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1570 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1571 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1572 @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1573 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1574 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1575 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1577 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1578 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1580 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1581 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1583 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1584 secondary select methods.
1587 @node Startup Variables
1588 @section Startup Variables
1592 @item gnus-load-hook
1593 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1594 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1595 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1596 times you start Gnus.
1598 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1599 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1600 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1602 @item gnus-startup-hook
1603 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1604 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1606 @item gnus-started-hook
1607 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1608 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1611 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1612 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1613 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1614 generating the group buffer.
1616 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1617 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1618 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1619 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1620 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1621 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1622 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1623 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1625 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1626 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1627 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1628 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1629 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1630 @file{~/.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1632 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1633 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1634 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1636 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1637 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1638 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1640 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1641 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1642 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1643 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1649 @chapter Group Buffer
1650 @cindex group buffer
1652 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1654 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1655 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1656 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1657 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1658 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1659 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1660 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1661 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1662 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1663 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1664 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1665 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1666 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1667 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1668 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1669 @c human rights at 9...
1672 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1673 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1674 long as Gnus is active.
1678 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1679 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1680 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1681 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1682 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1683 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1684 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1685 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1691 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1692 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1693 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1694 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1695 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1696 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1697 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1698 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1699 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1700 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1701 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1702 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1703 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1704 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1705 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1706 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1707 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1711 @node Group Buffer Format
1712 @section Group Buffer Format
1715 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1716 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
1717 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1721 @node Group Line Specification
1722 @subsection Group Line Specification
1723 @cindex group buffer format
1725 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1726 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1728 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1731 25: news.announce.newusers
1732 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1737 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1738 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1739 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1740 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1742 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1743 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1744 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1745 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1746 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1747 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1749 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1751 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1752 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1753 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1754 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1755 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1757 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1758 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1759 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1761 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1766 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1769 Whether the group is subscribed.
1772 Level of subscribedness.
1775 Number of unread articles.
1778 Number of dormant articles.
1781 Number of ticked articles.
1784 Number of read articles.
1787 Number of unseen articles.
1790 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1791 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1793 Gnus uses this estimation because the @acronym{NNTP} protocol provides
1794 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1795 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1796 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1797 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1798 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1799 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1800 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1803 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1806 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1815 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1816 comment element in the group parameters.
1819 Newsgroup description. You need to read the group descriptions
1820 before these will appear, and to do that, you either have to set
1821 @code{gnus-read-active-file} or use the group buffer @kbd{M-d}
1825 @samp{m} if moderated.
1828 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1834 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1840 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1844 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1847 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1848 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1849 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1850 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1851 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1854 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1856 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1860 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1863 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1867 The disk space used by the articles fetched by both the cache and
1868 agent. The value is automatically scaled to bytes(B), kilobytes(K),
1869 megabytes(M), or gigabytes(G) to minimize the column width. A format
1870 of %7F is sufficient for a fixed-width column.
1873 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1874 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1875 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1876 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1877 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1878 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1883 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1884 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1885 group, or a bogus native group.
1888 @node Group Mode Line Specification
1889 @subsection Group Mode Line Specification
1890 @cindex group mode line
1892 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1893 The mode line can be changed by setting
1894 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1895 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1899 The native news server.
1901 The native select method.
1905 @node Group Highlighting
1906 @subsection Group Highlighting
1907 @cindex highlighting
1908 @cindex group highlighting
1910 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1911 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1912 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1913 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1914 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1916 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1920 (cond (window-system
1921 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1922 (defface my-group-face-1
1923 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1924 (defface my-group-face-2
1925 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t)))
1926 "Second group face")
1927 (defface my-group-face-3
1928 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1929 (defface my-group-face-4
1930 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1931 (defface my-group-face-5
1932 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1934 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1935 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1936 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1937 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1938 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1939 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1942 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1944 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1951 The number of unread articles in the group.
1955 Whether the group is a mail group.
1957 The level of the group.
1959 The score of the group.
1961 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1963 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
1964 @var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
1966 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1967 topic being inserted.
1970 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1971 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1972 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1974 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1975 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1976 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1977 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1978 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1981 @node Group Maneuvering
1982 @section Group Maneuvering
1983 @cindex group movement
1985 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1986 expected, hopefully.
1992 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1993 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1994 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
2000 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
2001 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
2002 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
2006 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2007 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2011 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2012 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2016 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2017 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2018 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2022 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2023 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2024 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2027 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2033 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2034 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2035 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2040 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2041 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2042 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2046 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2047 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2048 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2051 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2052 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2053 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2054 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2058 @node Selecting a Group
2059 @section Selecting a Group
2060 @cindex group selection
2065 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2066 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2067 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2068 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2069 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2070 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2071 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
2072 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
2073 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
2074 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
2076 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2077 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2078 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2080 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2081 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2086 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2087 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2088 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2089 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2090 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2094 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2095 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2096 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2097 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2098 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2099 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2100 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2101 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2102 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2103 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2106 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2107 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2108 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2109 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2110 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2113 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2114 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2115 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2116 doing any processing of its contents
2117 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2118 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2119 manner will have no permanent effects.
2123 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2124 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should
2125 consider to be a big group. If it is @code{nil}, no groups are
2126 considered big. The default value is 200. If the group has more
2127 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2128 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many
2129 articles should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a
2130 negative number (@var{-n}), the @var{n} oldest articles will be
2131 fetched. If it is positive, the @var{n} articles that have arrived
2132 most recently will be fetched.
2134 @vindex gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup
2135 @code{gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup} is the same as
2136 @code{gnus-large-newsgroup}, but is only used for ephemeral
2139 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2140 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2141 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2142 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2143 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2144 Which article this is is controlled by the
2145 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2151 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2154 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2157 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2159 @item unseen-or-unread
2160 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2161 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2165 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2169 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2170 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2172 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2173 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2174 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2175 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2179 @node Subscription Commands
2180 @section Subscription Commands
2181 @cindex subscription
2189 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2190 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2191 Toggle subscription to the current group
2192 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2198 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2199 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2200 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2201 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2207 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2208 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2209 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2215 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2216 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2219 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2220 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2221 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2222 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2223 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2229 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2230 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2234 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2235 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2238 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2239 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2240 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2241 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2242 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2243 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2244 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2245 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2246 @file{.newsrc} file.
2250 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2260 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2261 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2262 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2263 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2264 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2265 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2270 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2271 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2272 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2276 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2277 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2278 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2280 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2281 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2282 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2283 If you have switched from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another, all your marks
2284 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2285 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2292 @section Group Levels
2296 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2297 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2298 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2299 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2300 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2302 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2308 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2309 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2310 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2311 prompted for a level.
2314 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2315 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2316 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2317 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2318 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2319 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2320 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2321 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2322 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2323 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2324 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2325 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2326 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2327 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2328 reasons of efficiency.
2330 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2331 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2333 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2334 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2335 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2336 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2337 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2338 groups are hidden, in a way.
2340 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2341 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2342 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2343 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2344 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2345 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2347 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2348 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2349 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2350 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2351 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2352 list of killed groups.)
2354 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2355 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2356 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2358 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2359 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2360 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2361 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2362 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2363 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2364 relevant valid ranges.
2366 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2367 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2368 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2369 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2370 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2371 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2374 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2375 one with the best level.
2377 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2378 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2379 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2382 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2383 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2384 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2385 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2388 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2389 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2390 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2391 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2393 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2394 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2395 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2396 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2397 to 5. The default is 6.
2401 @section Group Score
2406 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2407 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2408 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2411 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2412 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2413 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2414 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2415 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2416 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2417 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2418 least significant part.))
2420 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2421 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2422 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2423 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2424 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2425 action after each summary exit, you can add
2426 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2427 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2428 slow things down somewhat.
2431 @node Marking Groups
2432 @section Marking Groups
2433 @cindex marking groups
2435 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2436 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2437 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2438 bidding on those groups.
2440 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2441 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2442 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2450 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2451 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2457 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2458 Remove the mark from the current group
2459 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2463 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2464 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2468 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2469 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2473 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2474 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2478 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2479 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2480 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2483 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2485 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2486 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2487 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2488 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2489 the command to be executed.
2492 @node Foreign Groups
2493 @section Foreign Groups
2494 @cindex foreign groups
2496 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2497 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2498 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2499 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2506 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2507 @cindex making groups
2508 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2509 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2510 to subscribe to @acronym{NNTP} groups (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
2514 @findex gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group
2515 Make an ephemeral group (@code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group}). Gnus
2516 will prompt you for a name, a method and an @dfn{address}.
2520 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2521 @cindex renaming groups
2522 Rename the current group to something else
2523 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2524 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2530 @findex gnus-group-customize
2531 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2535 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2536 @cindex renaming groups
2537 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2538 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2542 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2543 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2544 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2548 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2549 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2550 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2554 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2556 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2557 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2562 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2563 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2567 @cindex (ding) archive
2568 @cindex archive group
2569 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2570 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2571 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2572 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2573 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2574 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2575 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2579 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2581 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2582 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2583 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2584 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2588 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2590 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2591 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2592 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2596 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2597 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2599 Make a group based on some file or other
2600 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2601 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2602 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2603 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2604 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2605 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2606 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2607 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2608 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2612 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2613 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2614 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2615 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2619 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2623 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2624 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2625 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2626 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2627 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2628 @xref{Web Searches}.
2630 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2631 to a particular group by using a match string like
2632 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2636 @findex gnus-group-make-rss-group
2637 Make a group based on an @acronym{RSS} feed
2638 (@code{gnus-group-make-rss-group}). You will be prompted for an URL.
2642 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2643 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2644 This function will delete the current group
2645 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2646 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2647 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2648 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2649 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} groups), though.
2653 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2654 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2655 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2659 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2660 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2661 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2664 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2667 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2668 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2669 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2670 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2671 groups from different @acronym{NNTP} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2672 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2676 @node Group Parameters
2677 @section Group Parameters
2678 @cindex group parameters
2680 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2681 Here's an example group parameter list:
2684 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2688 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
2689 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2690 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2691 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2693 Some parameters have correspondent customizable variables, each of which
2694 is an alist of regexps and values.
2696 The following group parameters can be used:
2701 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2704 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2707 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2708 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2709 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2710 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2711 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2713 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2714 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2715 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2716 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2717 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2718 list address instead.
2720 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2724 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2727 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2730 It is totally ignored
2731 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2732 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2734 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2735 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2736 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2737 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2738 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2740 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2741 @cindex mail list groups
2742 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2743 entering summary buffer.
2745 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2750 @cindex Mail-Followup-To
2751 @findex gnus-find-subscribed-addresses
2752 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2753 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2754 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2755 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2756 headers for your posts to these lists. The second step is to put the
2757 following in your @file{.gnus.el}
2760 (setq message-subscribed-address-functions
2761 '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
2764 @xref{Mailing Lists, ,Mailing Lists, message, The Message Manual}, for
2765 a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2769 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2770 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2771 of whether it has any unread articles.
2773 @item broken-reply-to
2774 @cindex broken-reply-to
2775 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2776 headers in this group are to be ignored, and for the header to be hidden
2777 if @code{reply-to} is part of @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}. This
2778 can be useful if you're reading a mailing list group where the listserv
2779 has inserted @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv
2780 itself. That is broken behavior. So there!
2784 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2785 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2789 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2790 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2791 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2796 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2797 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2798 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2799 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2800 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2801 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2802 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2804 @strong{Caveat}: Adding @code{(gcc-self . t)} to the parameter list of
2805 @code{nntp} groups (or the like) isn't valid. An @code{nntp} server
2806 doesn't accept articles.
2810 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2811 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2812 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2814 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2817 @cindex total-expire
2818 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2819 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2820 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2821 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2824 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2828 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2829 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2830 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2831 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2832 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2833 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2834 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2837 @cindex expiry-target
2838 Where expired messages end up. This parameter overrides
2839 @code{nnmail-expiry-target}.
2842 @cindex score file group parameter
2843 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2844 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2845 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2848 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2849 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2850 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2851 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2854 @cindex admin-address
2855 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2856 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2857 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2858 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2862 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2863 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2867 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2870 Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
2871 entering the group with @kbd{C-u @var{integer}}.
2874 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2878 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2880 Here are some examples:
2884 Display only unread articles.
2887 Display everything except expirable articles.
2889 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2890 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2894 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2895 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2896 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2897 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2898 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2902 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2903 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2904 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2908 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2909 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2910 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2914 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2915 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2916 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2918 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2920 @item ignored-charsets
2921 @cindex ignored-charset
2922 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2923 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2924 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2926 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2929 @cindex posting-style
2930 You can store additional posting style information for this group
2931 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2932 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2933 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2934 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2936 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2937 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2938 like this in the group parameters:
2943 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
2944 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2949 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2950 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2954 An item like @code{(banner . @var{regexp})} causes any part of an article
2955 that matches the regular expression @var{regexp} to be stripped. Instead of
2956 @var{regexp}, you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2957 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2958 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2962 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2963 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2964 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2965 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2967 For example, if the @samp{INBOX.list.sieve} group has the @code{(sieve
2968 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2969 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2970 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
2973 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
2974 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
2978 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve,
2979 Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
2981 @item (agent parameters)
2982 If the agent has been enabled, you can set any of the its parameters
2983 to control the behavior of the agent in individual groups. See Agent
2984 Parameters in @ref{Category Syntax}. Most users will choose to set
2985 agent parameters in either an agent category or group topic to
2986 minimize the configuration effort.
2988 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2989 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2990 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2991 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2992 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2993 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2994 @code{eval}ed there.
2996 Note that this feature sets the variable locally to the summary buffer.
2997 But some variables are evaluated in the article buffer, or in the
2998 message buffer (of a reply or followup or otherwise newly created
2999 message). As a workaround, it might help to add the variable in
3000 question to @code{gnus-newsgroup-variables}. @xref{Various Summary
3001 Stuff}. So if you want to set @code{message-from-style} via the group
3002 parameters, then you may need the following statement elsewhere in your
3003 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3006 (add-to-list 'gnus-newsgroup-variables 'message-from-style)
3009 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
3010 A use for this feature is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
3011 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
3014 nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps
3017 has the tag @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this
3018 tag can be removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for
3019 the group by putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")}
3020 into the group parameters for the group.
3022 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function. If you want to
3023 hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put something like
3024 @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that group.
3025 @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the (meaningless) result of the
3028 Alternatively, since the VARIABLE becomes local to the group, this
3029 pattern can be used to temporarily change a hook. For example, if the
3030 following is added to a group parameter
3033 (gnus-summary-prepared-hook
3034 '(lambda nil (local-set-key "d" (local-key-binding "n"))))
3037 when the group is entered, the 'd' key will not mark the article as
3042 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
3043 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
3044 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
3045 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
3046 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
3048 @vindex gnus-parameters
3049 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
3050 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
3054 (setq gnus-parameters
3056 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3057 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
3058 (gnus-summary-line-format
3059 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
3063 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
3067 (gnus-use-scoring t))
3071 (broken-reply-to . t))))
3074 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
3075 the @code{to-group} example shows.
3078 @node Listing Groups
3079 @section Listing Groups
3080 @cindex group listing
3082 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3090 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3091 List all groups that have unread articles
3092 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3093 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3094 only lists groups of level five (i.e.,
3095 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3102 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3103 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3104 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3105 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3106 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3107 unsubscribed groups).
3111 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3112 List all unread groups on a specific level
3113 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3114 with no unread articles.
3118 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3119 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3120 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3121 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3126 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3127 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3131 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3132 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3133 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3137 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3138 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3142 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3143 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3144 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3145 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3146 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3147 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3148 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3149 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3153 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3154 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3155 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3159 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3160 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3161 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3165 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3166 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3170 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3171 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3175 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3176 List groups limited within the current selection
3177 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3181 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3182 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3186 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3187 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3191 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3192 @cindex visible group parameter
3193 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3194 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3195 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3196 get the same effect.
3198 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3199 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3200 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3201 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3202 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3205 @node Sorting Groups
3206 @section Sorting Groups
3207 @cindex sorting groups
3209 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3210 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3211 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3212 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3213 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3214 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3219 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3220 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3221 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3223 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3224 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3225 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3227 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3228 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3229 Sort by group level.
3231 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3232 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3233 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3235 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3236 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3237 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3238 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3240 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3241 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3242 Sort by number of unread articles.
3244 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3245 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3246 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3248 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3249 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3250 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3255 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3256 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3260 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3261 some sorting criteria:
3265 @kindex G S a (Group)
3266 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3267 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3268 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3271 @kindex G S u (Group)
3272 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3273 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3274 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3277 @kindex G S l (Group)
3278 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3279 Sort the group buffer by group level
3280 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3283 @kindex G S v (Group)
3284 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3285 Sort the group buffer by group score
3286 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3289 @kindex G S r (Group)
3290 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3291 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3292 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3295 @kindex G S m (Group)
3296 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3297 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name@*
3298 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3301 @kindex G S n (Group)
3302 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3303 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3304 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3308 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3309 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3311 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3312 commands will sort in reverse order.
3314 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3318 @kindex G P a (Group)
3319 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3320 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3321 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3324 @kindex G P u (Group)
3325 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3326 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3327 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3330 @kindex G P l (Group)
3331 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3332 Sort the groups by group level
3333 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3336 @kindex G P v (Group)
3337 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3338 Sort the groups by group score
3339 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3342 @kindex G P r (Group)
3343 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3344 Sort the groups by group rank
3345 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3348 @kindex G P m (Group)
3349 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3350 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name@*
3351 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3354 @kindex G P n (Group)
3355 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3356 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3357 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3360 @kindex G P s (Group)
3361 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3362 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3366 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3370 @node Group Maintenance
3371 @section Group Maintenance
3372 @cindex bogus groups
3377 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3378 Find bogus groups and delete them
3379 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3383 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3384 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3385 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3386 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3387 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3391 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3392 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3393 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3394 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3395 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3396 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3399 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3400 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3401 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3402 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3407 @node Browse Foreign Server
3408 @section Browse Foreign Server
3409 @cindex foreign servers
3410 @cindex browsing servers
3415 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3416 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3417 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3418 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3421 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3422 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3423 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3424 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3426 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3431 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3432 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3436 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3437 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3440 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3441 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3442 Enter the current group and display the first article
3443 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3446 @kindex RET (Browse)
3447 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3448 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3452 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3453 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3454 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3460 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3461 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3465 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3466 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3470 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3471 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3472 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3477 @section Exiting Gnus
3478 @cindex exiting Gnus
3480 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3485 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3486 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3487 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3488 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3492 @findex gnus-group-exit
3493 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3494 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3498 @findex gnus-group-quit
3499 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3500 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3503 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3504 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3505 @vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
3506 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3507 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3508 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3514 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3515 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3516 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3522 @section Group Topics
3525 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3526 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3527 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3528 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3529 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3530 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3534 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3535 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3546 2: alt.religion.emacs
3549 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3551 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3552 13: comp.sources.unix
3555 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3557 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3558 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3559 is a toggling command.)
3561 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3562 dum@dots{} Nice tune, that@dots{} la la la@dots{} What, you're back?
3563 Yes, and now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed
3564 under @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
3567 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3568 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3569 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3572 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3576 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3577 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3578 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3579 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3580 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3584 @node Topic Commands
3585 @subsection Topic Commands
3586 @cindex topic commands
3588 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3589 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3590 definitions slightly.
3592 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3593 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3594 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3595 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3596 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3597 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3599 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3606 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3607 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3608 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3612 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3614 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3615 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3616 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3617 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3620 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3621 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3622 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3623 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3627 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3628 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3629 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3630 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3636 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3637 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3638 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3642 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3643 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3644 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3647 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3648 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the ``cut'' part of cut and paste. Then,
3649 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the ``Gnus''
3650 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the ``paste'' part of cut and
3651 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3653 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3654 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3658 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3659 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3666 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3668 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3669 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3670 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3671 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3672 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3673 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3677 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3683 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3684 Move the current group to some other topic
3685 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3686 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3690 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3691 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3695 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3696 Copy the current group to some other topic
3697 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3698 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3702 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3703 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3704 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3708 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3709 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3710 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3714 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3715 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3716 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3717 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3718 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3719 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3720 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3723 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3724 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3728 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3729 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3730 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3734 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3735 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3736 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3740 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3741 Toggle hiding empty topics
3742 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3746 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3747 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3748 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3749 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3752 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3753 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3754 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3755 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3756 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3759 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3760 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3761 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3762 expiry process (if any)
3763 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3767 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3768 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3771 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3772 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3773 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3777 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3778 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3779 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3782 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3783 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3784 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3787 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3788 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3789 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3793 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3794 @cindex group parameters
3795 @cindex topic parameters
3797 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3798 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3803 @node Topic Variables
3804 @subsection Topic Variables
3805 @cindex topic variables
3807 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3808 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3810 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3811 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3812 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3825 Number of groups in the topic.
3827 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3829 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3832 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3833 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3834 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3837 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3838 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3840 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3841 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3842 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3846 @subsection Topic Sorting
3847 @cindex topic sorting
3849 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3855 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3856 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3857 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3858 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3861 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3862 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3863 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3864 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3867 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3868 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3869 Sort the current topic by group level
3870 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3873 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3874 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3875 Sort the current topic by group score
3876 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3879 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3880 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3881 Sort the current topic by group rank
3882 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3885 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3886 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3887 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3888 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3891 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3892 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3893 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3894 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3897 @kindex T S s (Topic)
3898 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
3899 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
3900 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
3901 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
3905 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
3906 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
3910 @node Topic Topology
3911 @subsection Topic Topology
3912 @cindex topic topology
3915 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3922 2: alt.religion.emacs
3925 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3927 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3928 13: comp.sources.unix
3932 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3933 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3934 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3939 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3940 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3944 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3945 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3946 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3947 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3948 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3949 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3951 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3952 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3953 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3956 @node Topic Parameters
3957 @subsection Topic Parameters
3958 @cindex topic parameters
3960 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent
3961 (and ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid
3962 topic parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}). When the agent is
3963 enabled, all agent parameters (See Agent Parameters in @ref{Category
3964 Syntax}) are also valid topic parameters.
3966 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3971 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3972 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3973 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3976 @item subscribe-level
3977 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
3978 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
3979 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
3983 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3984 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3985 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3986 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3993 2: alt.religion.emacs
3997 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3999 8: comp.binaries.fractals
4000 13: comp.sources.unix
4005 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
4006 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
4007 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
4008 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
4009 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
4010 . "religion.SCORE")}.
4012 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
4013 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
4014 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
4015 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
4016 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
4018 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
4019 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
4020 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
4021 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
4022 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
4023 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
4024 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
4025 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
4028 @node Misc Group Stuff
4029 @section Misc Group Stuff
4032 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
4033 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
4034 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
4035 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
4036 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
4043 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
4044 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
4045 @xref{Server Buffer}.
4049 @findex gnus-group-post-news
4050 Start composing a message (a news by default)
4051 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
4052 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
4053 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
4054 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
4055 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4059 @findex gnus-group-mail
4060 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
4061 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
4062 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
4063 @xref{Composing Messages}.
4067 @findex gnus-group-news
4068 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
4069 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
4070 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4072 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
4073 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
4074 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
4075 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
4076 for this to work though.
4080 Variables for the group buffer:
4084 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
4085 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
4086 is called after the group buffer has been
4089 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
4090 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4091 is called after the group buffer is
4092 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
4095 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
4096 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4097 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
4098 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
4100 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4101 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4102 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
4103 whether they are empty or not.
4105 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4106 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4107 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
4108 non-@acronym{ASCII} group names.
4112 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4113 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4116 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4117 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4118 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4119 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
4120 is used to show non-@acronym{ASCII} group names. @code{((".*"
4121 utf-8))} is the default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the
4122 default is @code{nil}.
4126 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4127 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
4132 @node Scanning New Messages
4133 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4134 @cindex new messages
4135 @cindex scanning new news
4141 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4142 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4143 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4144 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4145 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4146 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4151 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4152 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4153 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4154 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4155 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4156 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4157 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4159 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4160 @cindex activating groups
4162 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4163 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4168 @findex gnus-group-restart
4169 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4170 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4171 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
4175 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4176 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4178 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4179 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4183 @node Group Information
4184 @subsection Group Information
4185 @cindex group information
4186 @cindex information on groups
4193 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4194 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4197 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} for the current group
4198 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the @acronym{FAQ}
4199 from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on
4200 a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
4201 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4202 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be
4203 used for fetching the file.
4205 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
4206 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4210 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
4211 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
4213 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
4214 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
4217 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
4218 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
4219 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
4223 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
4224 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
4225 @cindex control message
4226 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
4227 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
4228 group if given a prefix argument.
4230 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-@code{nil},
4231 Gnus will open the control messages in a browser using
4232 @code{browse-url}. Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp}
4233 and displayed in an ephemeral group.
4235 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
4236 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed
4237 Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
4241 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4243 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4244 @cindex describing groups
4245 @cindex group description
4246 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4247 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4248 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4252 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4253 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4254 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4261 @findex gnus-version
4262 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4266 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4267 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4270 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4273 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4274 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4278 @node Group Timestamp
4279 @subsection Group Timestamp
4281 @cindex group timestamps
4283 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
4284 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4285 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4288 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4291 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4293 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4294 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4297 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4298 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4301 This will result in lines looking like:
4304 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4305 0: custom 19961002T012713
4308 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4309 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4313 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4314 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4317 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4318 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4322 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4323 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4324 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4325 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4327 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4333 @subsection File Commands
4334 @cindex file commands
4340 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4341 @vindex gnus-init-file
4342 @cindex reading init file
4343 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4344 @file{~/.gnus.el}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4348 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4349 @cindex saving .newsrc
4350 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4351 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4352 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4355 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4356 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4357 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4362 @node Sieve Commands
4363 @subsection Sieve Commands
4364 @cindex group sieve commands
4366 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4367 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4368 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4369 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4370 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4372 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4373 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4374 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4375 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4376 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4377 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4378 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4379 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4380 regenerate the Sieve script.
4382 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4383 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4384 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
4385 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
4386 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
4387 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4388 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4389 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
4390 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
4391 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4394 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4395 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4400 @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve, Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4406 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4407 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4408 @cindex generating sieve script
4409 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4410 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4414 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4415 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4416 @cindex updating sieve script
4417 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4418 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4419 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4424 @node Summary Buffer
4425 @chapter Summary Buffer
4426 @cindex summary buffer
4428 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4429 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4431 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4432 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4434 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4437 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4438 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4439 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4440 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4441 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4442 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
4443 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4444 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4445 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4446 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4447 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4448 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4449 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4450 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4451 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4452 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4453 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4454 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4455 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4456 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4457 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4458 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4459 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4460 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4461 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4462 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4463 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4464 or reselecting the current group.
4465 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4466 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4467 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4468 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4472 @node Summary Buffer Format
4473 @section Summary Buffer Format
4474 @cindex summary buffer format
4478 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4479 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4480 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4486 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4487 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4488 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4489 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4492 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4493 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4494 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4495 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4496 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4497 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
4498 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4499 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
4500 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
4501 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
4502 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
4505 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4506 'mail-extract-address-components)
4509 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4510 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4511 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4512 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4515 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4516 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4518 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4519 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4520 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4521 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4522 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4524 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4525 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4526 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4527 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4528 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4529 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4531 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
4533 The following format specification characters and extended format
4534 specification(s) are understood:
4540 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4541 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4543 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4544 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4545 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4547 Full @code{From} header.
4549 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4551 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
4554 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4555 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4556 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4557 may be more thorough.
4559 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4562 Number of lines in the article.
4564 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4565 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4567 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
4568 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
4570 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4572 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4573 lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
4586 You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
4587 that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
4588 replacing the default @acronym{ASCII} characters with graphic
4589 line-drawing glyphs.
4591 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4592 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4593 Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
4594 instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4596 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4597 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4598 Used for the false root of a thread (@pxref{Loose Threads}). If
4599 @code{nil}, use subject instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4601 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4602 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4603 Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
4604 instead. The default is @samp{}.
4606 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4607 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4608 Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
4610 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4611 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4612 Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
4614 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4615 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4616 Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
4618 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4619 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4620 Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
4625 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4626 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4628 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4629 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4631 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4632 for adopted articles.
4634 One space for each thread level.
4636 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4638 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4641 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4642 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4643 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4646 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4648 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4649 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4650 default level. If the difference between
4651 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4652 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4660 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4662 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4668 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4669 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4671 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4672 article has any children.
4678 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4679 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4681 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4682 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4683 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{x}}, where @var{x} is the letter
4684 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4685 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4686 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4689 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4690 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4691 There can only be one such area.
4693 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4694 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
4695 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4696 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4697 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4698 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4700 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4701 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4703 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
4706 @node To From Newsgroups
4707 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4711 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4712 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4713 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4714 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4715 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4719 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4720 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4721 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4725 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4726 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4729 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4730 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4733 @findex gnus-extra-header
4734 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4735 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4736 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4739 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4743 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4744 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4745 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4746 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4747 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4748 headers are used instead.
4752 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4753 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4754 to include extra headers when generating overview (@acronym{NOV}) files.
4755 If you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after
4756 changing this variable, by entering the server buffer using @kbd{^},
4757 and then @kbd{g} on the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause
4760 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4761 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4762 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4763 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4765 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4769 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4771 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4772 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4773 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4774 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4778 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
4781 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
4782 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
4785 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4786 the @acronym{NOV} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4787 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
4793 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4794 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4797 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4798 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4800 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4801 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4802 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4803 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4805 Here are the elements you can play with:
4811 Unprefixed group name.
4813 Current article number.
4815 Current article score.
4819 Number of unread articles in this group.
4821 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4824 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4825 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4826 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4827 and no unselected ones.
4829 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4830 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4832 Subject of the current article.
4834 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4836 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4838 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4840 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4842 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4844 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4848 @node Summary Highlighting
4849 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4853 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4854 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4855 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4856 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4857 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4859 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4860 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4861 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4862 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4864 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4865 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4866 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4867 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4869 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4870 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4871 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4872 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4873 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4874 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4877 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4878 ((> score default) . bold))
4880 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4881 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4885 @node Summary Maneuvering
4886 @section Summary Maneuvering
4887 @cindex summary movement
4889 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4890 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4892 None of these commands select articles.
4897 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4898 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4899 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4900 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4901 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4905 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4906 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4907 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4908 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4909 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4912 @kindex G g (Summary)
4913 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4914 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4915 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4918 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4919 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4920 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4921 to the group buffer.
4923 Variables related to summary movement:
4927 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4928 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4929 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4930 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
4931 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4932 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4933 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
4934 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
4935 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
4936 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
4937 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
4938 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
4939 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
4940 @pxref{Group Levels}.
4942 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4943 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4944 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4945 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4946 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4947 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4948 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4950 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4952 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4953 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4954 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4955 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4956 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4958 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4959 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4960 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4961 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4962 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4963 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4964 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4965 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4968 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4969 the given number of lines from the top.
4974 @node Choosing Articles
4975 @section Choosing Articles
4976 @cindex selecting articles
4979 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4980 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4984 @node Choosing Commands
4985 @subsection Choosing Commands
4987 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4988 and they all select and display an article.
4990 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4991 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4995 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4996 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4997 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4998 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5000 If you have an article window open already and you press @kbd{SPACE}
5001 again, the article will be scrolled. This lets you conveniently
5002 @kbd{SPACE} through an entire newsgroup. @xref{Paging the Article}.
5007 @kindex G n (Summary)
5008 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
5009 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
5010 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
5015 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
5016 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
5017 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
5022 @kindex G N (Summary)
5023 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
5024 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
5029 @kindex G P (Summary)
5030 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
5031 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
5034 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
5035 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
5036 Go to the next article with the same subject
5037 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
5040 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
5041 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
5042 Go to the previous article with the same subject
5043 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
5047 @kindex G f (Summary)
5049 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
5050 Go to the first unread article
5051 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
5055 @kindex G b (Summary)
5057 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
5058 Go to the unread article with the highest score
5059 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
5060 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
5065 @kindex G l (Summary)
5066 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
5067 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
5070 @kindex G o (Summary)
5071 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
5073 @cindex article history
5074 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
5075 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
5076 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
5077 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
5078 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
5079 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
5084 @kindex G j (Summary)
5085 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
5086 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
5087 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
5092 @node Choosing Variables
5093 @subsection Choosing Variables
5095 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
5098 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5099 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5100 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
5101 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
5102 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
5103 the server and display it in the article buffer.
5105 @item gnus-select-article-hook
5106 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
5107 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
5108 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article. If you would
5109 like each article to be saved in the Agent as you read it, putting
5110 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this hook will do so.
5112 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
5113 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
5114 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
5115 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
5116 @findex gnus-unread-mark
5117 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
5118 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
5119 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
5120 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
5121 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
5122 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
5123 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
5124 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
5125 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
5130 @node Paging the Article
5131 @section Scrolling the Article
5132 @cindex article scrolling
5137 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5138 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5139 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
5140 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
5141 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5143 @vindex gnus-article-boring-faces
5144 @vindex gnus-article-skip-boring
5145 If @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} is non-@code{nil} and the rest of
5146 the article consists only of citations and signature, then it will be
5147 skipped; the next article will be shown instead. You can customize
5148 what is considered uninteresting with
5149 @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}. You can manually view the article's
5150 pages, no matter how boring, using @kbd{C-M-v}.
5153 @kindex DEL (Summary)
5154 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
5155 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
5158 @kindex RET (Summary)
5159 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
5160 Scroll the current article one line forward
5161 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
5164 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
5165 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
5166 Scroll the current article one line backward
5167 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
5171 @kindex A g (Summary)
5173 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
5174 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5175 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
5176 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
5177 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
5178 the way it came from the server.
5180 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
5181 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
5182 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
5185 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5190 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
5195 @kindex A < (Summary)
5196 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
5197 Scroll to the beginning of the article
5198 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
5203 @kindex A > (Summary)
5204 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
5205 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
5209 @kindex A s (Summary)
5211 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
5212 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
5213 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
5217 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
5218 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
5223 @node Reply Followup and Post
5224 @section Reply, Followup and Post
5227 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
5228 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
5229 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
5230 * Canceling and Superseding::
5234 @node Summary Mail Commands
5235 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
5237 @cindex composing mail
5239 Commands for composing a mail message:
5245 @kindex S r (Summary)
5247 @findex gnus-summary-reply
5248 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
5249 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
5250 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
5251 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
5256 @kindex S R (Summary)
5257 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
5258 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
5259 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5260 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
5261 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5264 @kindex S w (Summary)
5265 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
5266 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
5267 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
5268 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5269 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers. If @code{Mail-Followup-To} is
5270 present, that's used instead.
5273 @kindex S W (Summary)
5274 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
5275 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
5276 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
5277 the process/prefix convention.
5280 @kindex S v (Summary)
5281 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
5282 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
5283 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
5284 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5285 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
5286 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
5289 @kindex S V (Summary)
5290 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
5291 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
5292 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
5293 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5296 @kindex S B r (Summary)
5297 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
5298 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
5299 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
5300 If you need this because a mailing list incorrectly sets a
5301 @code{Reply-To} header pointing to the list, you probably want to set
5302 the @code{broken-reply-to} group parameter instead, so things will work
5303 correctly. @xref{Group Parameters}.
5306 @kindex S B R (Summary)
5307 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
5308 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5309 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
5310 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
5314 @kindex S o m (Summary)
5315 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
5316 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
5317 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
5318 Forward the current article to some other person
5319 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
5320 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
5321 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5322 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5323 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5324 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5325 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5326 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5327 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME}
5333 @kindex S m (Summary)
5334 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5335 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5336 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5337 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5338 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5343 @kindex S i (Summary)
5344 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5345 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5346 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5347 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5349 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5350 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
5351 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5352 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5353 for this to work though.
5356 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5357 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5358 @cindex bouncing mail
5359 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5360 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5361 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5362 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5363 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5364 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
5365 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5366 very well fail, though.
5369 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5370 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5371 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5372 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5373 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5374 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5375 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5376 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5377 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5378 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5380 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5381 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5382 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5383 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5384 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
5386 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5387 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5390 @kindex S D e (Summary)
5391 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message-edit
5393 Like the previous command, but will allow you to edit the message as
5394 if it were a new message before resending.
5397 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5398 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
5399 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5400 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
5401 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5404 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5405 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5406 @cindex crossposting
5407 @cindex excessive crossposting
5408 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5409 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5411 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5412 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5413 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5414 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5415 command understands the process/prefix convention
5416 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5420 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5421 Manual}, for more information.
5424 @node Summary Post Commands
5425 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5427 @cindex composing news
5429 Commands for posting a news article:
5435 @kindex S p (Summary)
5436 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5437 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5438 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5439 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5440 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5445 @kindex S f (Summary)
5446 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5447 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5448 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5452 @kindex S F (Summary)
5454 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5455 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5456 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5457 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5458 process/prefix convention.
5461 @kindex S n (Summary)
5462 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5463 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5464 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5467 @kindex S N (Summary)
5468 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5469 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5470 message through mail and include the original message
5471 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5472 the process/prefix convention.
5475 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5476 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5477 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5478 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
5479 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
5480 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
5481 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5482 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5483 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5484 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5485 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5486 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5487 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section.
5490 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5491 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
5493 @cindex making digests
5494 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5495 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
5496 process/prefix convention.
5499 @kindex S u (Summary)
5500 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5501 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5502 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5503 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5506 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5507 Manual}, for more information.
5510 @node Summary Message Commands
5511 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5515 @kindex S y (Summary)
5516 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5517 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5518 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5519 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5520 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5525 @node Canceling and Superseding
5526 @subsection Canceling Articles
5527 @cindex canceling articles
5528 @cindex superseding articles
5530 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5531 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5533 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5535 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5537 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5538 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5539 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5540 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5541 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5542 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5544 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5545 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5548 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5549 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5550 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5552 Gnus ensures that only you can cancel your own messages using a
5553 @code{Cancel-Lock} header (@pxref{Canceling News, Canceling News, ,
5554 message, Message Manual}).
5556 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5557 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5558 your original article.
5560 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5562 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5563 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5564 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5567 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5568 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5569 have posted almost the same article twice.
5571 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5572 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5573 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5574 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5575 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5576 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5577 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5578 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5579 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5580 canceled/superseded.
5582 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5584 @node Delayed Articles
5585 @section Delayed Articles
5586 @cindex delayed sending
5587 @cindex send delayed
5589 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5590 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5591 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5592 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5595 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5598 @findex gnus-delay-article
5599 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5600 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5601 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5602 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5606 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5607 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5608 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5609 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5612 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5613 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5614 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5617 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5618 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5619 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5620 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5621 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5622 that means a time tomorrow.
5625 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5626 couple of variables:
5629 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5630 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5631 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5632 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5634 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5635 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5636 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5637 formats described above.
5639 @item gnus-delay-group
5640 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5641 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5642 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5643 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5645 @item gnus-delay-header
5646 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5647 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5648 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5649 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5652 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5653 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5654 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5655 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5656 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5658 @findex gnus-delay-send-queue
5659 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5660 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5661 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5662 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5663 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5664 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5667 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5668 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5669 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5670 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
5671 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
5672 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
5673 argument is ignored.
5675 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
5676 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
5677 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
5681 @node Marking Articles
5682 @section Marking Articles
5683 @cindex article marking
5684 @cindex article ticking
5687 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5689 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5690 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5691 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5693 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5696 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks.
5700 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5701 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5702 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5703 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5704 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5705 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5709 @node Unread Articles
5710 @subsection Unread Articles
5712 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5717 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5718 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5720 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5721 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5722 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5723 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5724 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5725 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5726 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5729 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5730 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5732 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5733 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5734 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5735 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5739 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5740 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5742 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5747 @subsection Read Articles
5748 @cindex expirable mark
5750 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5755 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5756 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5757 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5760 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5761 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5764 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5765 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5766 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5769 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5770 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5773 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5774 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5777 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5778 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5781 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5782 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5785 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5786 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5789 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5790 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5793 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5794 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5798 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5799 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5800 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5804 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5805 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5807 One more special mark, though:
5811 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5812 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5814 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5815 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5816 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5817 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
5823 @subsection Other Marks
5824 @cindex process mark
5827 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5833 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5834 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5835 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5836 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5837 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5840 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5841 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5842 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5843 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5846 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5847 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5848 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5851 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5852 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5853 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5856 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5857 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5858 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5859 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5862 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5863 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
5864 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5865 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
5866 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
5867 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
5870 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5871 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
5872 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5873 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
5876 @vindex gnus-downloaded-mark
5877 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), articles may be
5878 downloaded for unplugged (offline) viewing. If you are using the
5879 @samp{%O} spec, these articles get the @samp{+} mark in that spec.
5880 (The variable @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} controls which character to
5884 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
5885 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), some articles might
5886 not have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you
5887 are unplugged (offline). If you are using the @samp{%O} spec, these
5888 articles get the @samp{-} mark in that spec. (The variable
5889 @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls which character to use.)
5892 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
5893 The Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}) downloads some articles
5894 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
5895 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
5896 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
5897 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
5901 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5902 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5903 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5904 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5905 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5908 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5909 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5910 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5911 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5912 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5913 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5917 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5918 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5919 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5921 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5922 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5923 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5927 @subsection Setting Marks
5928 @cindex setting marks
5930 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5935 @kindex M c (Summary)
5936 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5937 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5938 @cindex mark as unread
5939 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5940 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5946 @kindex M t (Summary)
5947 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5948 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5949 @xref{Article Caching}.
5954 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5955 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5956 Mark the current article as dormant
5957 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5961 @kindex M d (Summary)
5963 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5964 Mark the current article as read
5965 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5969 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5970 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5971 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5976 @kindex M k (Summary)
5977 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5978 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5979 and then select the next unread article
5980 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5984 @kindex M K (Summary)
5985 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5986 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5987 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5988 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5991 @kindex M C (Summary)
5992 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5993 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5994 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5997 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5998 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5999 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
6000 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
6003 @kindex M H (Summary)
6004 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
6005 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
6006 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
6009 @kindex M h (Summary)
6010 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
6011 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
6012 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
6015 @kindex C-w (Summary)
6016 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
6017 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
6018 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
6021 @kindex M V k (Summary)
6022 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
6023 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
6024 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
6028 @kindex M e (Summary)
6030 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
6031 Mark the current article as expirable
6032 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
6035 @kindex M b (Summary)
6036 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
6037 Set a bookmark in the current article
6038 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
6041 @kindex M B (Summary)
6042 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
6043 Remove the bookmark from the current article
6044 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
6047 @kindex M V c (Summary)
6048 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
6049 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
6050 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
6053 @kindex M V u (Summary)
6054 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
6055 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
6056 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
6059 @kindex M V m (Summary)
6060 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
6061 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
6062 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
6063 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
6066 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
6067 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
6068 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
6069 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
6070 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
6071 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
6072 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
6073 The default is @code{t}.
6076 @node Generic Marking Commands
6077 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
6079 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
6080 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
6081 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
6082 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
6083 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
6086 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
6087 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
6090 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
6091 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
6092 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
6093 to list in this manual.
6095 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
6096 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
6097 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
6098 article, you could say something like:
6102 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
6103 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6104 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
6112 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6113 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
6117 @node Setting Process Marks
6118 @subsection Setting Process Marks
6119 @cindex setting process marks
6121 Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
6122 used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
6123 process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
6124 articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
6125 commands into the cache. For more information,
6126 @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
6133 @kindex M P p (Summary)
6134 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6135 Mark the current article with the process mark
6136 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
6137 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6141 @kindex M P u (Summary)
6142 @kindex M-# (Summary)
6143 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
6144 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6147 @kindex M P U (Summary)
6148 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6149 Remove the process mark from all articles
6150 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6153 @kindex M P i (Summary)
6154 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
6155 Invert the list of process marked articles
6156 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
6159 @kindex M P R (Summary)
6160 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6161 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6162 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6165 @kindex M P G (Summary)
6166 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6167 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6168 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6171 @kindex M P r (Summary)
6172 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6173 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6176 @kindex M P g (Summary)
6177 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6178 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6181 @kindex M P t (Summary)
6182 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6183 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6184 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6187 @kindex M P T (Summary)
6188 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6189 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6190 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6193 @kindex M P v (Summary)
6194 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
6195 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
6196 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
6199 @kindex M P s (Summary)
6200 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
6201 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6204 @kindex M P S (Summary)
6205 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
6206 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
6207 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
6210 @kindex M P a (Summary)
6211 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
6212 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}).
6215 @kindex M P b (Summary)
6216 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6217 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
6218 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6221 @kindex M P k (Summary)
6222 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
6223 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
6224 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
6227 @kindex M P y (Summary)
6228 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
6229 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
6230 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
6233 @kindex M P w (Summary)
6234 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
6235 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
6236 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
6240 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @ref{Searching for Articles}, for how to
6241 set process marks based on article body contents.
6248 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
6249 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
6250 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
6253 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
6254 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
6255 additional articles.
6261 @kindex / / (Summary)
6262 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
6263 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
6264 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
6268 @kindex / a (Summary)
6269 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
6270 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
6271 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
6275 @kindex / R (Summary)
6276 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-recipient
6277 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some recipient
6278 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-recipient}). If given a prefix, exclude
6282 @kindex / x (Summary)
6283 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
6284 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
6285 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
6286 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
6291 @kindex / u (Summary)
6293 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
6294 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
6295 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
6296 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
6297 dormant articles will also be excluded.
6300 @kindex / m (Summary)
6301 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
6302 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
6303 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
6306 @kindex / t (Summary)
6307 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
6308 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
6309 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
6310 articles younger than that number of days.
6313 @kindex / n (Summary)
6314 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
6315 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
6316 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
6317 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6320 @kindex / w (Summary)
6321 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
6322 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
6323 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
6327 @kindex / . (Summary)
6328 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
6329 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
6330 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
6333 @kindex / v (Summary)
6334 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
6335 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
6336 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
6339 @kindex / p (Summary)
6340 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
6341 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
6342 group parameter predicate
6343 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). @xref{Group
6344 Parameters}, for more on this predicate.
6347 @kindex / r (Summary)
6348 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-replied
6349 Limit the summary buffer to replied articles
6350 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-replied}). If given a prefix, exclude
6355 @kindex M S (Summary)
6356 @kindex / E (Summary)
6357 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
6358 Include all expunged articles in the limit
6359 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
6362 @kindex / D (Summary)
6363 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
6364 Include all dormant articles in the limit
6365 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
6368 @kindex / * (Summary)
6369 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
6370 Include all cached articles in the limit
6371 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
6374 @kindex / d (Summary)
6375 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
6376 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
6377 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
6380 @kindex / M (Summary)
6381 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
6382 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
6385 @kindex / T (Summary)
6386 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
6387 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6390 @kindex / c (Summary)
6391 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6392 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit@*
6393 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6396 @kindex / C (Summary)
6397 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6398 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6399 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6400 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6403 @kindex / N (Summary)
6404 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6405 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6406 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6409 @kindex / o (Summary)
6410 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6411 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6412 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6420 @cindex article threading
6422 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6423 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6424 hierarchical fashion.
6426 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6427 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6428 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6429 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6430 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6431 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6432 @ref{Customizing Threading}.
6434 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6438 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6441 A tree-like article structure.
6444 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6447 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6448 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6449 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6450 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6451 called loose threads.
6453 @item thread gathering
6454 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6456 @item sparse threads
6457 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6458 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6464 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6465 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6469 @node Customizing Threading
6470 @subsection Customizing Threading
6471 @cindex customizing threading
6474 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6475 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6476 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6477 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
6482 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6485 @cindex loose threads
6488 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6489 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6490 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6491 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6492 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6493 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6495 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
6496 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
6497 There are four possible values:
6501 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6502 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6503 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6504 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6505 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6510 @cindex adopting articles
6515 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6516 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6517 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6518 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6521 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6522 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
6523 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6524 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6525 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6526 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6527 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6528 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6529 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
6530 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
6533 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6534 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6535 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6539 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6540 display them after one another.
6543 Don't gather loose threads.
6546 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6547 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6548 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6549 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
6550 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6551 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6552 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6553 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6554 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6555 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
6556 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6558 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6559 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
6560 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6563 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6564 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6565 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6566 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6567 simplification is used.
6569 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6570 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6571 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6572 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6574 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6576 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6582 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6583 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6584 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6585 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6590 (mapconcat 'identity
6591 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6593 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6596 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6599 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6600 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6601 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6602 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6603 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6604 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6606 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6609 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6610 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6611 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6613 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6614 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6617 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6618 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6619 Remove excessive whitespace.
6621 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6622 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6623 Remove all whitespace.
6626 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6629 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6630 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6631 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6632 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6633 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6634 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6635 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6636 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6638 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6639 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6640 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6641 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6642 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6643 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6644 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6645 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6646 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6650 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6651 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6652 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6653 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6655 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6656 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6657 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6660 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6664 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6665 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6671 @node Filling In Threads
6672 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6675 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6676 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6677 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6678 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you would
6679 like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still connect as
6680 many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable to
6681 @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than that
6682 number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case, fetching
6683 old headers only works if the back end you are using carries overview
6684 files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
6685 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
6686 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can
6689 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6690 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6691 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6693 @item gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
6694 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
6695 Same as @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}, but only used for ephemeral
6698 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6699 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6700 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6701 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6702 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6703 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6704 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
6705 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6706 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
6707 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
6708 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6709 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
6710 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6711 @code{nil} by default.
6713 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6714 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6715 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6716 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6717 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6718 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6719 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6721 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6722 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6723 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6728 @node More Threading
6729 @subsubsection More Threading
6732 @item gnus-show-threads
6733 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6734 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6735 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6736 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6737 slower and more awkward.
6739 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6740 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6741 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6744 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
6745 Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
6746 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}.
6751 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6752 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
6753 gnus-article-unseen-p))
6756 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
6757 unread, but you get my drift.)
6760 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6761 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6762 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6763 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6764 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6765 threads are expunged.
6767 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6768 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6769 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6772 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6773 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6774 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6775 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6776 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6777 result in a new thread.
6779 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6780 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6781 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6784 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6785 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6786 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6787 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6788 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6789 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6790 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6791 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6792 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6793 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6794 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6799 @node Low-Level Threading
6800 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6804 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6805 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6806 Hook run before parsing any headers.
6808 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6809 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6810 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6811 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6812 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6813 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6814 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6815 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6816 meaningful. Here's one example:
6819 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6821 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6822 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6824 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6826 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6833 @node Thread Commands
6834 @subsection Thread Commands
6835 @cindex thread commands
6841 @kindex T k (Summary)
6842 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6843 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6844 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6845 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6846 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6851 @kindex T l (Summary)
6852 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6853 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6854 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6855 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6858 @kindex T i (Summary)
6859 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6860 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6861 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6864 @kindex T # (Summary)
6865 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6866 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6867 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6870 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6871 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6872 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6873 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6876 @kindex T T (Summary)
6877 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6878 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6881 @kindex T s (Summary)
6882 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6883 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any@*
6884 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6887 @kindex T h (Summary)
6888 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6889 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6892 @kindex T S (Summary)
6893 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6894 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6897 @kindex T H (Summary)
6898 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6899 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6902 @kindex T t (Summary)
6903 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6904 Re-thread the current article's thread
6905 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6906 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6909 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6910 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6911 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6912 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6916 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6917 understand the numeric prefix.
6922 @kindex T n (Summary)
6924 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
6926 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6927 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6928 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6931 @kindex T p (Summary)
6933 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
6935 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6936 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6937 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6940 @kindex T d (Summary)
6941 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6942 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6945 @kindex T u (Summary)
6946 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6947 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6950 @kindex T o (Summary)
6951 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6952 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6955 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6956 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6957 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6958 a command like @kbd{T k} (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6959 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6960 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6961 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6962 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6963 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6964 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6965 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6966 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6970 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6971 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6973 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6974 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6975 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6976 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6977 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6978 @c @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-recipient
6979 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6980 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
6981 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6982 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number
6983 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date
6984 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6985 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6986 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6987 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6989 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6990 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6991 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6992 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
6993 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
6994 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
6995 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
6996 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6998 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6999 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
7000 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
7002 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
7003 last function in the list. You should probably always include
7004 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
7005 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
7006 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
7007 ascending article order.
7009 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
7010 by number, you could do something like:
7013 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
7014 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
7015 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
7016 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
7019 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
7020 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
7021 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
7022 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
7023 which the articles arrived.
7025 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
7029 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
7031 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
7032 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
7035 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
7036 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
7037 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
7038 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
7041 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
7042 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
7043 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
7044 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
7045 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
7046 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
7047 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
7048 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
7049 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
7050 variable. It is very similar to the
7051 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
7052 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
7053 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
7054 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
7055 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
7056 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
7057 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
7059 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
7063 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
7064 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
7065 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
7070 @node Asynchronous Fetching
7071 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
7072 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
7073 @cindex article pre-fetch
7076 If you read your news from an @acronym{NNTP} server that's far away, the
7077 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
7078 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
7079 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
7080 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
7082 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
7083 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
7085 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
7086 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
7087 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
7088 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
7089 connection is blocked.
7091 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
7092 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
7093 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
7094 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
7096 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
7097 the link between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server will become more
7098 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
7099 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
7102 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing@dots{} unless
7105 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
7106 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
7107 happen automatically.
7109 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
7110 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
7111 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
7112 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
7113 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
7114 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
7115 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
7117 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
7118 @findex gnus-async-read-p
7119 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
7120 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p}
7121 variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This
7122 function should return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is
7123 to be pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which
7124 returns @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an
7125 article data structure as the only parameter.
7127 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
7128 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
7131 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
7132 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
7133 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
7134 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
7137 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
7140 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
7141 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
7142 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
7144 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
7145 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
7146 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
7147 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
7151 Remove articles when they are read.
7154 Remove articles when exiting the group.
7157 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
7159 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
7160 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
7161 @c from the next group.
7164 @node Article Caching
7165 @section Article Caching
7166 @cindex article caching
7169 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @acronym{NNTP} connection, you may
7170 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
7171 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
7172 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
7173 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
7175 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
7177 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7178 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
7179 @vindex gnus-use-cache
7180 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
7181 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
7182 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
7183 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
7184 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
7186 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
7187 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
7188 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
7189 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
7190 as dormant, and don't worry.
7192 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
7194 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
7195 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
7196 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
7197 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
7198 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
7199 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
7200 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
7201 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
7202 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
7203 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
7205 @findex gnus-jog-cache
7206 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
7207 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
7208 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
7209 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
7210 command if 1) your connection to the @acronym{NNTP} server is really, really,
7211 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
7212 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
7213 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
7214 not then be downloaded by this command.
7216 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
7217 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
7218 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
7219 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
7220 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
7221 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
7223 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
7224 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
7225 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
7226 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
7227 variables, the group is not cached.
7229 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
7230 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
7231 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
7232 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
7233 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
7234 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
7235 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
7236 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @acronym{NOV}
7237 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
7240 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
7241 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
7242 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
7243 where, isn't that cool?
7245 @node Persistent Articles
7246 @section Persistent Articles
7247 @cindex persistent articles
7249 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
7250 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
7251 useful in my opinion.
7253 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
7254 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
7255 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
7256 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
7257 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
7258 the expiry going on at the news server.
7260 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
7261 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
7262 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
7268 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
7269 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
7272 @kindex M-* (Summary)
7273 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
7274 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
7275 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
7279 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
7281 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
7282 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
7283 interested in persistent articles:
7286 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
7290 @node Article Backlog
7291 @section Article Backlog
7293 @cindex article backlog
7295 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
7296 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
7297 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
7298 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
7299 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
7300 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
7301 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
7302 increase memory usage some.
7304 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
7305 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
7306 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
7307 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
7308 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
7309 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
7310 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
7312 The default value is 20.
7315 @node Saving Articles
7316 @section Saving Articles
7317 @cindex saving articles
7319 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
7320 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
7321 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
7322 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
7323 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
7325 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
7326 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
7327 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7329 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
7330 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
7331 unwanted headers before saving the article.
7333 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
7334 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
7335 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
7336 deleted before saving.
7342 @kindex O o (Summary)
7344 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
7345 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
7346 Save the current article using the default article saver
7347 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
7350 @kindex O m (Summary)
7351 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
7352 Save the current article in mail format
7353 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7356 @kindex O r (Summary)
7357 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7358 Save the current article in Rmail format
7359 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
7362 @kindex O f (Summary)
7363 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7364 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7365 Save the current article in plain file format
7366 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7369 @kindex O F (Summary)
7370 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7371 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7372 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7375 @kindex O b (Summary)
7376 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7377 Save the current article body in plain file format
7378 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7381 @kindex O h (Summary)
7382 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7383 Save the current article in mh folder format
7384 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7387 @kindex O v (Summary)
7388 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7389 Save the current article in a VM folder
7390 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7394 @kindex O p (Summary)
7396 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7397 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7398 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7399 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
7400 complete headers in the piped output.
7403 @kindex O P (Summary)
7404 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7405 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7406 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7407 external program @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/,
7408 Muttprint}. The program name and options to use is controlled by the
7409 variable @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}.
7410 (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7414 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7415 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7416 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7417 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7418 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7419 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7420 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7421 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7422 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7423 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7424 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7425 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7429 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7430 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7431 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
7432 functions below, or you can create your own.
7436 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7437 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7438 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7439 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7440 This is the default format, @dfn{Babyl}. Uses the function in the
7441 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7442 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7444 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7445 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7446 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7447 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7448 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7449 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7451 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7452 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7453 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7454 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7455 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7456 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7457 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7459 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7460 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7461 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7462 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7463 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7464 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7466 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7467 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7468 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7469 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7470 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7472 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7473 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7474 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7475 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7476 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7479 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7480 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7481 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7482 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7483 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7485 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7486 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7487 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7488 reader to use this setting.
7491 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7492 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7493 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7494 @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7497 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7498 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7499 available functions that generate names:
7503 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7504 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7505 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7507 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7508 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7509 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7511 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7512 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7513 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7515 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7516 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7517 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7519 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7520 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7521 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7524 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7525 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7526 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7527 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7528 related to VM in @file{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7532 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7533 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7534 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7535 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7538 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7539 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7540 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7541 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7542 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7543 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7544 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7545 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7546 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7548 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7549 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7550 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7551 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7553 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7554 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7555 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7558 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7559 lots of mail groups called things like
7560 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7561 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7562 following will do just that:
7565 (defun my-save-name (group)
7566 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7567 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7569 (setq gnus-split-methods
7570 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7575 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7576 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7577 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7578 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7579 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7580 all the files in the top level directory
7581 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7582 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7583 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7584 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7586 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7587 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7588 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7589 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7590 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7593 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7597 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; @r{to get a hierarchy}
7598 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7599 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; @r{no encoding}
7602 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7603 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7604 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7605 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7608 @node Decoding Articles
7609 @section Decoding Articles
7610 @cindex decoding articles
7612 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7613 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7616 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7617 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7618 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7619 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7620 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7621 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7625 @cindex article series
7626 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7627 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7628 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7629 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7630 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7632 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7633 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7634 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7636 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
7637 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7638 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7640 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7641 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7642 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7645 @node Uuencoded Articles
7646 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7648 @cindex uuencoded articles
7653 @kindex X u (Summary)
7654 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7655 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7656 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7659 @kindex X U (Summary)
7660 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7661 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7662 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7665 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7666 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7667 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7670 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7671 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7672 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7673 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7677 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7678 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7679 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7680 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7681 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7683 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7684 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7685 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7686 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7689 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7690 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7691 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7692 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7693 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7694 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7698 @node Shell Archives
7699 @subsection Shell Archives
7701 @cindex shell archives
7702 @cindex shared articles
7704 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7705 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7706 some commands to deal with these:
7711 @kindex X s (Summary)
7712 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7713 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7716 @kindex X S (Summary)
7717 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7718 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7721 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7722 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7723 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7726 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7727 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7728 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7729 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7733 @node PostScript Files
7734 @subsection PostScript Files
7740 @kindex X p (Summary)
7741 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7742 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7745 @kindex X P (Summary)
7746 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7747 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7748 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7751 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7752 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7753 View the current PostScript series
7754 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7757 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7758 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7759 View and save the current PostScript series
7760 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7765 @subsection Other Files
7769 @kindex X o (Summary)
7770 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7771 Save the current series
7772 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7775 @kindex X b (Summary)
7776 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7777 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7778 doesn't really work yet.
7782 @node Decoding Variables
7783 @subsection Decoding Variables
7785 Adjective, not verb.
7788 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7789 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7790 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7794 @node Rule Variables
7795 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7796 @cindex rule variables
7798 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7799 variables are of the form
7802 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7809 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7810 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7812 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7813 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @file{.au} sound file, you could
7816 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7817 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7820 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7821 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7822 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7823 user and default view rules.
7825 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7826 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7827 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7832 @node Other Decode Variables
7833 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7836 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7838 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7839 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7840 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7841 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7842 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7846 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7847 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7850 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7851 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7852 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7855 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7856 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7857 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7858 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7859 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7862 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7863 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7864 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7866 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7867 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7868 Files with a @acronym{MIME} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7869 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7870 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @acronym{MIME} package (yet), so this is slightly
7873 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7874 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7875 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7877 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7878 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7879 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7880 looking for files to display.
7882 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7883 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7884 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7887 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7888 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7889 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7892 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7893 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7894 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7897 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7898 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7899 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7902 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7903 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7904 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7905 decoded articles as unread.
7907 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7908 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7909 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7910 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7912 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7913 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7914 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7916 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7917 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7919 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7920 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @acronym{MIME}
7921 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7922 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7924 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7925 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7926 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7927 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7928 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7929 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7930 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7931 simply dropped them.
7936 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7937 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7941 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7942 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7943 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7944 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7945 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7946 for you when you post the article.
7948 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7949 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7950 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7951 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7953 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7954 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7955 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7956 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7957 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7958 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7959 think that counts@dots{}) Default is @code{nil}.
7961 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7962 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7963 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7964 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7965 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7966 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7967 Default is @code{t}.
7973 @subsection Viewing Files
7974 @cindex viewing files
7975 @cindex pseudo-articles
7977 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
7978 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7979 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7980 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
7981 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7982 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7983 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7985 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7986 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7987 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7988 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7990 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7991 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7992 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7994 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7995 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7996 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7997 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7998 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
8000 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
8001 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
8002 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
8003 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
8004 a list of parameters to that command.
8006 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
8007 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
8008 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
8010 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
8011 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
8012 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
8015 @node Article Treatment
8016 @section Article Treatment
8018 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
8019 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
8020 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
8021 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
8022 these articles easier.
8025 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
8026 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
8027 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
8028 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
8029 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
8030 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
8031 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
8032 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
8033 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
8034 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
8035 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
8039 @node Article Highlighting
8040 @subsection Article Highlighting
8041 @cindex highlighting
8043 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
8044 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
8049 @kindex W H a (Summary)
8050 @findex gnus-article-highlight
8051 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
8052 Do much highlighting of the current article
8053 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
8054 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
8057 @kindex W H h (Summary)
8058 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
8059 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
8060 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
8061 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
8062 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
8063 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
8064 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
8065 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
8066 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
8067 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
8068 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
8071 @kindex W H c (Summary)
8072 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
8073 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
8075 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
8078 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8080 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8081 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
8082 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
8084 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
8085 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
8086 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
8088 @item gnus-cite-face-list
8089 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
8090 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
8091 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
8092 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
8093 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
8095 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
8096 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
8097 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
8099 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8100 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8101 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
8103 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8104 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8105 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
8106 that it's a citation.
8108 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8109 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8110 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
8112 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8113 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8114 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
8116 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
8117 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
8118 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
8119 cited text belonging to the attribution.
8121 @item gnus-cite-ignore-quoted-from
8122 @vindex gnus-cite-ignore-quoted-from
8123 If non-@code{nil}, no citation highlighting will be performed on lines
8124 beginning with @samp{>From }. Those lines may have been quoted by MTAs
8125 in order not to mix up with the envelope From line. The default value
8132 @kindex W H s (Summary)
8133 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8134 @vindex gnus-signature-face
8135 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
8136 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
8137 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
8138 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
8139 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
8144 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
8147 @node Article Fontisizing
8148 @subsection Article Fontisizing
8150 @cindex article emphasis
8152 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
8153 @kindex W e (Summary)
8154 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
8155 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
8156 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
8157 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
8159 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
8160 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
8161 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
8162 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
8163 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
8164 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
8165 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
8166 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
8170 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
8171 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
8172 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
8181 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
8182 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
8183 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
8184 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
8185 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
8186 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
8187 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
8188 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
8189 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
8190 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
8191 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
8192 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
8193 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
8195 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
8196 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
8197 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
8201 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
8204 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
8206 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
8207 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
8208 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
8209 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
8211 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
8214 @node Article Hiding
8215 @subsection Article Hiding
8216 @cindex article hiding
8218 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
8219 too much cruft in most articles.
8224 @kindex W W a (Summary)
8225 @findex gnus-article-hide
8226 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
8227 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
8228 headers, @acronym{PGP}, cited text and the signature.
8231 @kindex W W h (Summary)
8232 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
8233 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
8237 @kindex W W b (Summary)
8238 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8239 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
8240 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
8243 @kindex W W s (Summary)
8244 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
8245 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
8249 @kindex W W l (Summary)
8250 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
8251 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8252 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
8253 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
8254 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
8255 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
8256 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
8260 @item gnus-list-identifiers
8261 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8262 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
8263 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
8268 @kindex W W P (Summary)
8269 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
8270 Hide @acronym{PEM} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
8271 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
8274 @kindex W W B (Summary)
8275 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
8276 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
8277 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8280 @cindex stripping advertisements
8281 @cindex advertisements
8282 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
8283 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
8284 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
8285 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
8286 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
8287 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
8288 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
8289 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
8290 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
8291 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
8294 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
8295 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
8296 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
8300 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8301 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8302 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
8303 @code{(@var{address} . @var{banner})}, where @var{address} is a regexp
8304 matching a mail address in the From header, @var{banner} is one of a
8305 symbol @code{signature}, an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist},
8306 a regexp and @code{nil}. If @var{address} matches author's mail
8307 address, it will remove things like advertisements. For example, if a
8308 sender has the mail address @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a
8309 banner something like @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he
8310 sends, you can use the following element to remove them:
8313 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" .
8314 "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
8320 @kindex W W c (Summary)
8321 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
8322 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
8323 customizing the hiding:
8327 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8328 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8329 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8330 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8331 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
8332 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
8333 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
8338 Starting point of the hidden text.
8340 Ending point of the hidden text.
8342 Number of characters in the hidden region.
8344 Number of lines of hidden text.
8347 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
8348 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
8349 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
8350 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
8351 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
8356 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
8357 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
8359 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
8360 following two variables:
8363 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8364 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8365 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
8366 50), hide the cited text.
8368 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8369 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8370 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8375 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8376 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8377 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8378 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8379 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8380 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8384 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8385 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8386 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8388 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8389 citation customization.
8391 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8395 @node Article Washing
8396 @subsection Article Washing
8398 @cindex article washing
8400 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8401 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8403 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8404 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8407 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8408 articles by default.
8413 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8414 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8418 Force redisplaying of the current article
8419 (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). This is also not really washing.
8420 If you type this, you see the article without any previously applied
8421 interactive Washing functions but with all default treatments
8422 (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8425 @kindex W l (Summary)
8426 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8427 Remove page breaks from the current article
8428 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8432 @kindex W r (Summary)
8433 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8434 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8435 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8436 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8437 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8438 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8440 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8441 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8442 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8443 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8446 @kindex W m (Summary)
8447 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
8448 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
8452 @kindex W t (Summary)
8454 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
8455 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8456 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
8459 @kindex W v (Summary)
8460 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8461 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8462 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8465 @kindex W o (Summary)
8466 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8467 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8470 @kindex W d (Summary)
8471 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8472 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8474 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8476 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8477 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8478 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8479 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8482 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8483 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8484 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8485 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8488 @kindex W Y f (Summary)
8489 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
8490 @cindex Outlook Express
8491 Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
8492 unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
8493 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8496 @kindex W Y u (Summary)
8497 @findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
8498 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min
8499 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max
8500 Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
8501 what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
8502 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
8503 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the minimum and
8504 maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
8505 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines}).
8508 @kindex W Y a (Summary)
8509 @findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
8510 Repair a broken attribution line.@*
8511 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
8514 @kindex W Y c (Summary)
8515 @findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
8516 Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
8517 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
8520 @kindex W w (Summary)
8521 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
8522 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
8524 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8528 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8529 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8530 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8533 @kindex W C (Summary)
8534 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8535 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8536 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8539 @kindex W c (Summary)
8540 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8541 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8542 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8543 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8544 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8547 @kindex W q (Summary)
8548 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
8549 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
8550 Quoted-Printable is one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when
8551 sending non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. It typically
8552 makes strings like @samp{d@'ej@`a vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu},
8553 which doesn't look very readable to me. Note that this is usually
8554 done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8555 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
8556 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8559 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8560 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8561 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}). Base64 is
8562 one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when sending
8563 non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is
8564 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8565 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
8566 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8569 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8570 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8571 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8572 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8573 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8576 @kindex W A (Summary)
8577 @findex gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences
8578 @cindex @acronym{ANSI} control sequences
8579 Translate @acronym{ANSI} SGR control sequences into overlays or
8580 extents (@code{gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences}). @acronym{ANSI}
8581 sequences are used in some Chinese hierarchies for highlighting.
8584 @kindex W u (Summary)
8585 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
8586 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
8587 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
8588 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
8589 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
8592 @kindex W h (Summary)
8593 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8594 Treat @acronym{HTML} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
8595 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8596 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @acronym{HTML}.
8598 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8600 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
8601 The default is to use the function specified by
8602 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display
8603 Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) to convert the
8604 @acronym{HTML}, but this is controlled by the
8605 @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions you
8613 Use @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/, emacs-w3m}.
8616 Use @uref{http://links.sf.net/, Links}.
8619 Use @uref{http://lynx.isc.org/, Lynx}.
8622 Use html2text---a simple @acronym{HTML} converter included with Gnus.
8627 @kindex W b (Summary)
8628 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8629 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8630 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8633 @kindex W B (Summary)
8634 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8635 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8636 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8639 @kindex W p (Summary)
8640 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8641 Verify a signed control message
8642 (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}). Control messages such as
8643 @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are usually signed by the
8644 hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the @acronym{PGP} public key of
8645 the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8646 message.@footnote{@acronym{PGP} keys for many hierarchies are
8647 available at @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8650 @kindex W s (Summary)
8651 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8652 Verify a signed (@acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME} or
8653 @acronym{S/MIME}) message
8654 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
8657 @kindex W a (Summary)
8658 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
8659 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8660 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
8663 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8664 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8665 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8666 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8669 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8670 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8671 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8672 lines with a single empty line.
8673 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8676 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8677 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8678 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8679 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8682 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8683 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8684 Do all the three commands above
8685 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8688 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8689 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8690 Remove all blank lines
8691 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8694 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8695 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8696 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8697 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8700 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8701 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8702 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8703 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8707 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8710 @node Article Header
8711 @subsection Article Header
8713 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
8718 @kindex W G u (Summary)
8719 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8720 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8723 @kindex W G n (Summary)
8724 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
8725 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
8726 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
8729 @kindex W G f (Summary)
8730 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
8731 Fold all the message headers
8732 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
8735 @kindex W E w (Summary)
8736 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
8737 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
8738 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
8743 @node Article Buttons
8744 @subsection Article Buttons
8747 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8748 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8749 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8750 button on these references.
8752 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8753 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8754 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man pages and
8755 Emacs or Gnus related references. This is controlled by two variables,
8756 one that handles article bodies and one that handles article heads:
8760 @item gnus-button-alist
8761 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8762 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8765 (@var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
8771 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
8772 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
8773 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
8774 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
8775 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp} and @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp}.
8778 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8779 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8780 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8783 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8784 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8785 avoid false matches. Often variables named
8786 @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} are used here, @xref{Article Button
8787 Levels}, but any other form may be used too.
8789 @c @code{use-p} is @code{eval}ed only if @code{regexp} matches.
8792 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8795 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8796 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8800 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8803 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8806 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8807 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8808 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8809 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8810 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8813 (@var{header} @var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
8816 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8819 @subsubsection Related variables and functions
8822 @item gnus-button-@var{*}-level
8823 @xref{Article Button Levels}.
8825 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-browse-level
8827 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8828 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8829 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8830 default values of the variables above.
8832 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-man-level
8834 @item gnus-button-man-handler
8835 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8836 The function to use for displaying man pages. It must take at least one
8837 argument with a string naming the man page.
8839 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-message-level
8841 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
8842 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
8843 Regular expression that matches a message ID or a mail address.
8845 @item gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
8846 @vindex gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
8847 This variable determines what to do when the button on a string as
8848 @samp{foo123@@bar.invalid} is pushed. Strings like this can be either a
8849 message ID or a mail address. If it is one of the symbols @code{mid} or
8850 @code{mail}, Gnus will always assume that the string is a message ID or
8851 a mail address, respectively. If this variable is set to the symbol
8852 @code{ask}, always query the user what do do. If it is a function, this
8853 function will be called with the string as its only argument. The
8854 function must return @code{mid}, @code{mail}, @code{invalid} or
8855 @code{ask}. The default value is the function
8856 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
8858 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
8859 @findex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
8860 Function that guesses whether its argument is a message ID or a mail
8861 address. Returns @code{mid} if it's a message IDs, @code{mail} if
8862 it's a mail address, @code{ask} if unsure and @code{invalid} if the
8865 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
8866 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
8867 An alist of @code{(RATE . REGEXP)} pairs used by the function
8868 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
8870 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-tex-level
8872 @item gnus-button-ctan-handler
8873 @findex gnus-button-ctan-handler
8874 The function to use for displaying CTAN links. It must take one
8875 argument, the string naming the URL.
8878 @vindex gnus-ctan-url
8879 Top directory of a CTAN (Comprehensive TeX Archive Network) archive used
8880 by @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler}.
8884 @item gnus-article-button-face
8885 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8886 Face used on buttons.
8888 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8889 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8890 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8894 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8897 @node Article Button Levels
8898 @subsection Article button levels
8899 @cindex button levels
8900 The higher the value of the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level},
8901 the more buttons will appear. If the level is zero, no corresponding
8902 buttons are displayed. With the default value (which is 5) you should
8903 already see quite a lot of buttons. With higher levels, you will see
8904 more buttons, but you may also get more false positives. To avoid them,
8905 you can set the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} local to
8906 specific groups (@pxref{Group Parameters}). Here's an example for the
8907 variable @code{gnus-parameters}:
8910 ;; @r{increase @code{gnus-button-*-level} in some groups:}
8911 (setq gnus-parameters
8912 '(("\\<\\(emacs\\|gnus\\)\\>" (gnus-button-emacs-level 10))
8913 ("\\<unix\\>" (gnus-button-man-level 10))
8914 ("\\<tex\\>" (gnus-button-tex-level 10))))
8919 @item gnus-button-browse-level
8920 @vindex gnus-button-browse-level
8921 Controls the display of references to message IDs, mail addresses and
8922 news URLs. Related variables and functions include
8923 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}, @code{browse-url}, and
8924 @code{browse-url-browser-function}.
8926 @item gnus-button-emacs-level
8927 @vindex gnus-button-emacs-level
8928 Controls the display of Emacs or Gnus references. Related functions are
8929 @code{gnus-button-handle-custom},
8930 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-function},
8931 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-variable},
8932 @code{gnus-button-handle-symbol},
8933 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-key},
8934 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos},
8935 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-command},
8936 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-variable},
8937 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-documentation}, and
8938 @code{gnus-button-handle-library}.
8940 @item gnus-button-man-level
8941 @vindex gnus-button-man-level
8942 Controls the display of references to (Unix) man pages.
8943 See @code{gnus-button-man-handler}.
8945 @item gnus-button-message-level
8946 @vindex gnus-button-message-level
8947 Controls the display of message IDs, mail addresses and news URLs.
8948 Related variables and functions include
8949 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp},
8950 @code{gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail},
8951 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}, and
8952 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist}.
8954 @item gnus-button-tex-level
8955 @vindex gnus-button-tex-level
8956 Controls the display of references to @TeX{} or LaTeX stuff, e.g. for CTAN
8957 URLs. See the variables @code{gnus-ctan-url},
8958 @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler},
8959 @code{gnus-button-ctan-directory-regexp}, and
8960 @code{gnus-button-handle-ctan-bogus-regexp}.
8966 @subsection Article Date
8968 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8969 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8970 when the article was sent.
8975 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8976 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8977 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8978 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8981 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8982 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8984 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8985 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8988 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8989 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8990 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8993 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8994 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8995 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8996 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
8999 @kindex W T s (Summary)
9000 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
9001 @findex gnus-article-date-user
9002 @findex format-time-string
9003 Display the date using a user-defined format
9004 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
9005 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
9006 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
9007 for a list of possible format specs.
9010 @kindex W T e (Summary)
9011 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
9012 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
9013 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
9014 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
9015 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
9018 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
9021 @vindex gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header
9022 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
9023 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
9026 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
9027 into wonderful absurdities.
9029 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
9032 (gnus-start-date-timer)
9035 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
9036 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
9040 @kindex W T o (Summary)
9041 @findex gnus-article-date-original
9042 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
9043 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
9044 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
9045 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
9046 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
9050 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
9051 preferred format automatically.
9054 @node Article Display
9055 @subsection Article Display
9060 These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
9061 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
9063 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
9064 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
9066 @code{Face} headers are small colored images supplied by the message
9067 headers (@pxref{Face}).
9069 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
9070 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
9072 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
9073 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
9075 All these functions are toggles---if the elements already exist,
9080 @kindex W D x (Summary)
9081 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
9082 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
9083 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
9086 @kindex W D d (Summary)
9087 @findex gnus-article-display-face
9088 Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
9089 (@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
9092 @kindex W D s (Summary)
9093 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
9094 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
9097 @kindex W D f (Summary)
9098 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
9099 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
9102 @kindex W D m (Summary)
9103 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
9104 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
9105 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
9108 @kindex W D n (Summary)
9109 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
9110 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
9111 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
9114 @kindex W D D (Summary)
9115 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
9116 Remove all images from the article buffer
9117 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
9123 @node Article Signature
9124 @subsection Article Signature
9126 @cindex article signature
9128 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
9129 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
9130 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
9131 that says what is to be considered a signature is
9132 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
9133 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
9134 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
9135 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
9136 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
9139 (setq gnus-signature-separator
9140 '("^-- $" ; @r{The standard}
9141 "^-- *$" ; @r{A common mangling}
9142 "^-------*$" ; @r{Many people just use a looong}
9143 ; @r{line of dashes. Shame!}
9144 "^ *--------*$" ; @r{Double-shame!}
9145 "^________*$" ; @r{Underscores are also popular}
9146 "^========*$")) ; @r{Pervert!}
9149 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
9152 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
9153 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
9154 signature when displaying articles.
9158 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
9161 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
9164 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
9165 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
9167 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
9168 in question is not a signature.
9171 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
9172 listed above. Here's an example:
9175 (setq gnus-signature-limit
9176 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
9179 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
9180 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
9181 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
9182 signature after all.
9185 @node Article Miscellanea
9186 @subsection Article Miscellanea
9190 @kindex A t (Summary)
9191 @findex gnus-article-babel
9192 Translate the article from one language to another
9193 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
9199 @section MIME Commands
9200 @cindex MIME decoding
9202 @cindex viewing attachments
9204 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
9205 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @acronym{MIME} part''.
9211 @kindex K v (Summary)
9212 View the @acronym{MIME} part.
9215 @kindex K o (Summary)
9216 Save the @acronym{MIME} part.
9219 @kindex K c (Summary)
9220 Copy the @acronym{MIME} part.
9223 @kindex K e (Summary)
9224 View the @acronym{MIME} part externally.
9227 @kindex K i (Summary)
9228 View the @acronym{MIME} part internally.
9231 @kindex K | (Summary)
9232 Pipe the @acronym{MIME} part to an external command.
9235 The rest of these @acronym{MIME} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
9240 @kindex K b (Summary)
9241 Make all the @acronym{MIME} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
9242 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
9246 @kindex K m (Summary)
9247 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
9248 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
9249 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
9250 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
9251 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
9254 @kindex X m (Summary)
9255 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
9256 Save all parts matching a @acronym{MIME} type to a directory
9257 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
9258 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9261 @kindex M-t (Summary)
9262 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
9263 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
9264 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
9267 @kindex W M w (Summary)
9268 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
9269 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
9270 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
9273 @kindex W M c (Summary)
9274 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
9275 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
9276 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
9278 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
9279 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
9280 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
9281 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
9282 include @acronym{MIME} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
9283 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
9286 @kindex W M v (Summary)
9287 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
9288 View all the @acronym{MIME} parts in the current article
9289 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
9296 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
9297 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
9298 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9299 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
9302 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
9305 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
9309 @item gnus-article-loose-mime
9310 @vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
9311 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't require the @samp{MIME-Version} header
9312 before interpreting the message as a @acronym{MIME} message. This helps
9313 when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
9314 default is @code{nil}.
9316 @item gnus-article-emulate-mime
9317 @vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
9318 There are other, non-@acronym{MIME} encoding methods used. The most common
9319 is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
9320 this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
9321 see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
9322 Gnus @acronym{MIME} machinery. The default is @code{t}.
9324 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9325 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9326 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9327 this list won't have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9328 displayed or this variable is overridden by
9329 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
9330 @code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
9331 @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is @code{nil}.
9333 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9334 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9335 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9336 this list will have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9337 displayed. This variable overrides
9338 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
9339 This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
9342 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
9343 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
9344 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
9346 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9347 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9348 If this is non-@code{nil}, then all @acronym{MIME} parts get buttons. The
9349 default value is @code{nil}.
9351 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
9352 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
9353 For each @acronym{MIME} part, this function will be called with the @acronym{MIME}
9354 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
9355 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
9356 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
9357 save all jpegs into some directory).
9359 Here's an example function the does the latter:
9362 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
9363 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
9365 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
9366 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
9367 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
9368 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
9369 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
9372 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9373 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9374 Alist of @acronym{MIME} multipart types and functions to handle them.
9376 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed
9377 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed
9378 Display "multipart/alternative" parts as "multipart/mixed".
9380 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed
9381 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed
9382 Display "multipart/related" parts as "multipart/mixed".
9384 If displaying "text/html" is discouraged, see
9385 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives} in @ref{Display Customization,
9386 Display Customization, , emacs-mime, Emacs-Mime Manual}. Images or
9387 other material inside a "multipart/related" part might be overlooked
9388 when this variable is @code{nil}.
9390 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-as-mixed
9391 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-as-mixed
9392 Display "multipart" parts as "multipart/mixed". If @code{t}, it
9393 overrides @code{nil} values of
9394 @code{gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed} and
9395 @code{gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed}.
9397 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9398 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9399 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @acronym{MIME} parts.
9400 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
9402 Ready-made functions include@*
9403 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
9404 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
9405 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
9406 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
9407 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
9408 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
9409 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
9410 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
9411 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9412 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9413 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9414 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9416 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
9417 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
9419 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
9420 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
9421 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
9424 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9425 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9426 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9427 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
9431 to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
9440 People use different charsets, and we have @acronym{MIME} to let us know what
9441 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
9442 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @acronym{MIME}, and
9443 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
9444 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
9445 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
9446 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
9448 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
9449 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
9450 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
9451 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
9453 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets
9454 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @acronym{MIME}-aware agents that
9455 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
9456 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
9457 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
9458 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
9459 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
9460 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
9461 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
9463 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
9464 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
9465 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @acronym{MIME}
9466 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
9467 quoted-printable header encoding.
9469 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
9470 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
9471 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
9475 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
9478 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
9479 means encode all charsets),
9481 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
9482 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
9483 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
9490 @cindex coding system aliases
9491 @cindex preferred charset
9493 @xref{Encoding Customization, , Encoding Customization, emacs-mime,
9494 The Emacs MIME Manual}, for additional variables that control which
9495 MIME charsets are used when sending messages.
9497 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
9499 If there are several @acronym{MIME} charsets that encode the same Emacs
9500 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
9503 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
9504 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
9507 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
9508 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @acronym{MIME} charset.
9510 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
9513 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
9516 This will almost do the right thing.
9518 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
9522 (codepage-setup 1251)
9523 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
9527 @node Article Commands
9528 @section Article Commands
9535 @kindex A P (Summary)
9536 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
9537 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
9538 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
9539 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
9540 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
9541 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
9546 @node Summary Sorting
9547 @section Summary Sorting
9548 @cindex summary sorting
9550 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
9551 can't really see why you'd want that.
9556 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
9557 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
9558 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
9561 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
9562 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
9563 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
9566 @kindex C-c C-s C-t (Summary)
9567 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-recipient
9568 Sort by recipient (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-recipient}).
9571 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
9572 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
9573 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
9576 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
9577 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
9578 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
9581 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
9582 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
9583 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
9586 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
9587 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
9588 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
9591 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
9592 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
9593 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
9596 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
9597 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
9598 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
9601 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
9602 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
9603 Sort using the default sorting method
9604 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
9607 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
9608 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
9609 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
9610 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
9611 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
9615 @node Finding the Parent
9616 @section Finding the Parent
9617 @cindex parent articles
9618 @cindex referring articles
9623 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
9624 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
9625 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
9626 if the current group is fetched by @acronym{NNTP}, the parent hasn't expired
9627 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
9628 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
9629 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
9630 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
9631 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
9633 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
9634 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
9635 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
9636 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
9637 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
9641 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
9642 @kindex A R (Summary)
9643 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
9644 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
9647 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
9648 @kindex A T (Summary)
9649 Display the full thread where the current article appears
9650 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
9651 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
9652 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
9653 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
9654 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
9655 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
9657 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
9658 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
9659 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
9660 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
9661 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
9662 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
9665 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
9666 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
9668 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
9669 You can also ask the @acronym{NNTP} server for an arbitrary article, no
9670 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
9671 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
9672 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
9673 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
9674 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
9677 The current select method will be used when fetching by
9678 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
9679 by giving this command a prefix.
9681 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
9682 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
9683 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
9684 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @acronym{NNTP} method. It
9685 would, perhaps, be best if the @acronym{NNTP} server you consult is the one
9686 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
9689 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
9690 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
9691 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
9694 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
9695 then ask Google if that fails:
9698 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
9700 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
9703 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
9704 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
9705 @code{nnbabyl}, @code{nnmaildir}, @code{nnml}, are able to locate
9706 articles from any groups, while @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
9707 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current
9708 group. (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does
9709 not support this at all.
9712 @node Alternative Approaches
9713 @section Alternative Approaches
9715 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
9716 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
9719 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
9720 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
9725 @subsection Pick and Read
9726 @cindex pick and read
9728 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
9729 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
9730 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
9731 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
9733 @findex gnus-pick-mode
9734 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
9735 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
9736 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
9737 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
9738 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
9740 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
9745 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
9746 Pick the article or thread on the current line
9747 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9748 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
9749 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
9750 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
9751 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
9752 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
9755 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
9756 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
9757 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
9758 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
9762 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
9763 Unpick the thread or article
9764 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9765 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
9766 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
9767 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
9768 the thread or article at that line.
9772 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
9773 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
9774 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
9775 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
9776 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
9777 will still be visible when you are reading.
9781 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
9782 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
9783 which is mapped to the same function
9784 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
9786 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
9789 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
9792 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
9793 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
9795 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
9796 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
9797 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
9799 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
9800 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
9801 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
9802 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
9803 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
9804 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
9805 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
9809 @subsection Binary Groups
9810 @cindex binary groups
9812 @findex gnus-binary-mode
9813 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
9814 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
9815 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
9816 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
9817 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
9818 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
9821 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
9822 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
9823 command, when you have turned on this mode
9824 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
9826 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
9827 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
9831 @section Tree Display
9834 @vindex gnus-use-trees
9835 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
9836 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9837 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9840 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9843 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9844 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9845 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9847 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9848 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9849 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9850 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9851 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9853 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9854 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9855 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9856 default is @code{modeline}.
9858 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9859 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9860 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9861 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9862 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9863 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9864 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9870 The name of the poster.
9872 The @code{From} header.
9874 The number of the article.
9876 The opening bracket.
9878 The closing bracket.
9883 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9885 Variables related to the display are:
9888 @item gnus-tree-brackets
9889 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
9890 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
9891 ``sparse'' articles. The format is
9893 ((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
9894 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close})
9895 (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))
9897 and the default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
9899 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9900 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9901 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
9902 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
9906 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
9907 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
9908 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
9909 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
9910 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
9911 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
9912 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
9913 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
9914 other windows displayed next to it.
9916 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
9920 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
9921 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
9924 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
9925 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
9926 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9927 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
9928 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
9929 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
9930 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
9934 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
9937 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
9947 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
9952 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
9953 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
9955 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
9957 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
9963 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
9964 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
9965 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
9968 (setq gnus-use-trees t
9969 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9970 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
9971 (gnus-add-configuration
9975 (summary 0.75 point)
9980 @xref{Window Layout}.
9983 @node Mail Group Commands
9984 @section Mail Group Commands
9985 @cindex mail group commands
9987 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
9988 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
9990 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
9991 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9996 @kindex B e (Summary)
9997 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
9998 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
9999 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
10000 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
10001 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
10004 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
10005 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
10006 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
10007 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
10008 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
10009 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
10012 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
10013 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
10014 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
10015 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
10016 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
10017 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
10020 @kindex B m (Summary)
10022 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
10023 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
10024 Move the article from one mail group to another
10025 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
10026 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
10029 @kindex B c (Summary)
10031 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
10032 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
10033 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
10034 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
10035 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
10038 @kindex B B (Summary)
10039 @cindex crosspost mail
10040 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
10041 Crosspost the current article to some other group
10042 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
10043 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
10044 be properly updated.
10047 @kindex B i (Summary)
10048 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
10049 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
10050 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
10051 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
10054 @kindex B I (Summary)
10055 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
10056 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
10057 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
10058 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
10061 @kindex B r (Summary)
10062 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
10063 @vindex gnus-summary-respool-default-method
10064 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
10065 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
10066 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
10067 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
10068 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
10069 (which is the default).
10073 @kindex B w (Summary)
10074 @kindex e (Summary)
10075 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
10076 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
10077 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
10078 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
10079 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
10080 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
10081 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
10084 @kindex B q (Summary)
10085 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
10086 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
10087 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
10088 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
10091 @kindex B t (Summary)
10092 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
10093 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
10094 when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
10097 @kindex B p (Summary)
10098 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
10099 Some people have a tendency to send you ``courtesy'' copies when they
10100 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
10101 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
10102 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
10103 article from your news server (or rather, from
10104 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
10105 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
10106 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
10107 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
10108 just not have arrived yet.
10111 @kindex K E (Summary)
10112 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
10113 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
10114 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
10115 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
10116 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
10120 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
10121 @cindex moving articles
10122 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
10123 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
10124 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
10125 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
10126 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
10127 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
10128 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
10131 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
10132 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
10133 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
10134 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
10138 @node Various Summary Stuff
10139 @section Various Summary Stuff
10142 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
10143 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
10144 * Summary Generation Commands::
10145 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
10149 @vindex gnus-summary-display-while-building
10150 @item gnus-summary-display-while-building
10151 If non-@code{nil}, show and update the summary buffer as it's being
10152 built. If @code{t}, update the buffer after every line is inserted.
10153 If the value is an integer, @var{n}, update the display every @var{n}
10154 lines. The default is @code{nil}.
10156 @vindex gnus-summary-display-arrow
10157 @item gnus-summary-display-arrow
10158 If non-@code{nil}, display an arrow in the fringe to indicate the
10161 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
10162 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
10163 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
10165 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
10166 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
10167 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
10168 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
10169 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
10170 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
10173 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10174 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10175 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
10176 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
10177 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
10179 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10180 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10181 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
10184 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10185 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10186 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
10187 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
10188 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
10189 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
10190 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
10191 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
10192 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
10193 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
10195 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10196 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10197 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
10198 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
10199 list of articles to be selected.
10201 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
10202 the list in one particular group:
10205 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
10206 (if (string= group "some.group")
10207 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
10211 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
10212 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
10213 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
10214 variables and their default expressions to be evalled (when the default
10215 values are not @code{nil}), that should be made global while the summary
10218 Note: The default expressions will be evaluated (using function
10219 @code{eval}) before assignment to the local variable rather than just
10220 assigned to it. If the default expression is the symbol @code{global},
10221 that symbol will not be evaluated but the global value of the local
10222 variable will be used instead.
10224 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
10225 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
10226 buffers. For example:
10229 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
10230 '(message-use-followup-to
10231 (gnus-visible-headers .
10232 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
10235 Also @pxref{Group Parameters}.
10239 @node Summary Group Information
10240 @subsection Summary Group Information
10245 @kindex H f (Summary)
10246 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
10247 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
10248 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} (list of frequently asked questions)
10249 for the current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try
10250 to get the @acronym{FAQ} from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which
10251 is usually a directory on a remote machine. This variable can also be
10252 a list of directories. In that case, giving a prefix to this command
10253 will allow you to choose between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp}
10254 or @code{efs} will probably be used for fetching the file.
10257 @kindex H d (Summary)
10258 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
10259 Give a brief description of the current group
10260 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
10261 rereading the description from the server.
10264 @kindex H h (Summary)
10265 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
10266 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
10267 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
10270 @kindex H i (Summary)
10271 @findex gnus-info-find-node
10272 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
10276 @node Searching for Articles
10277 @subsection Searching for Articles
10282 @kindex M-s (Summary)
10283 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
10284 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
10285 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
10288 @kindex M-r (Summary)
10289 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
10290 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
10291 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
10294 @kindex & (Summary)
10295 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
10296 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
10297 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
10298 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
10299 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
10300 search backward instead.
10302 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string RET #} will put the process mark on
10303 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
10306 @kindex M-& (Summary)
10307 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
10308 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
10309 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
10312 @node Summary Generation Commands
10313 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
10318 @kindex Y g (Summary)
10319 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
10320 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
10323 @kindex Y c (Summary)
10324 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
10325 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10326 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
10329 @kindex Y d (Summary)
10330 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
10331 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10332 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
10337 @node Really Various Summary Commands
10338 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
10344 @kindex C-d (Summary)
10345 @kindex A D (Summary)
10346 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
10347 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
10348 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
10349 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
10350 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
10351 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
10352 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
10353 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
10357 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
10358 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
10359 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
10360 several documents into one biiig group
10361 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
10362 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
10363 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
10364 command understands the process/prefix convention
10365 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10368 @kindex C-t (Summary)
10369 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
10370 Toggle truncation of summary lines
10371 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
10372 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
10373 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
10376 @kindex = (Summary)
10377 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
10378 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
10379 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
10382 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
10383 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
10384 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10385 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
10388 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
10389 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
10390 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10391 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
10396 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
10397 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
10398 @cindex summary exit
10399 @cindex exiting groups
10401 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
10402 group and return you to the group buffer.
10409 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
10410 @kindex Z Q (Summary)
10411 @kindex q (Summary)
10412 @findex gnus-summary-exit
10413 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
10414 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
10415 @vindex gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook
10416 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
10417 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
10418 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
10419 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
10420 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
10421 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
10422 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
10423 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
10427 @kindex Z E (Summary)
10428 @kindex Q (Summary)
10429 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
10430 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
10431 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
10435 @kindex Z c (Summary)
10436 @kindex c (Summary)
10437 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
10438 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
10439 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
10440 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
10443 @kindex Z C (Summary)
10444 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
10445 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
10446 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
10449 @kindex Z n (Summary)
10450 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
10451 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
10452 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
10456 @kindex Z R (Summary)
10457 @kindex C-x C-s (Summary)
10458 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
10459 Exit this group, and then enter it again
10460 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
10461 all articles, both read and unread.
10465 @kindex Z G (Summary)
10466 @kindex M-g (Summary)
10467 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
10468 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
10469 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
10470 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
10471 articles, both read and unread.
10474 @kindex Z N (Summary)
10475 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
10476 Exit the group and go to the next group
10477 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
10480 @kindex Z P (Summary)
10481 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
10482 Exit the group and go to the previous group
10483 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
10486 @kindex Z s (Summary)
10487 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
10488 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
10489 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
10490 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
10491 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
10494 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
10495 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
10496 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
10497 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
10499 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
10500 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
10501 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
10502 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
10503 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
10504 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
10505 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
10506 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
10507 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
10508 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
10509 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
10510 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
10512 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
10514 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
10515 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
10516 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
10517 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
10518 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
10519 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
10520 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
10521 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
10522 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
10525 @node Crosspost Handling
10526 @section Crosspost Handling
10530 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
10531 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
10532 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
10533 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
10534 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
10535 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
10538 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
10539 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
10540 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
10541 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
10542 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
10544 @cindex cross-posting
10546 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
10547 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
10548 correctly is if you use an @acronym{NNTP} server that supports @sc{xover}
10549 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
10550 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @acronym{NOV} lines. This is
10551 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
10552 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
10553 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
10554 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
10555 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
10556 the cross reference mechanism.
10558 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
10559 @cindex overview.fmt
10560 To check whether your @acronym{NNTP} server includes the @code{Xref} header
10561 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
10562 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
10563 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
10564 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
10565 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
10568 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
10569 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
10570 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
10575 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
10578 @node Duplicate Suppression
10579 @section Duplicate Suppression
10581 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
10582 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
10583 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
10584 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
10589 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
10590 is evil and not very common.
10593 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
10594 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
10597 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
10598 different @acronym{NNTP} servers.
10601 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
10604 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
10605 well, but these four are the most common situations.
10607 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
10608 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
10609 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
10610 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
10611 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
10612 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
10613 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
10616 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
10617 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
10618 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
10619 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
10620 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
10621 saw the article in.
10624 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
10625 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
10626 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
10628 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
10629 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
10630 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
10631 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
10632 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
10633 session are suppressed.
10635 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
10636 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
10637 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
10638 suppression list. The default is 10000.
10640 @item gnus-duplicate-file
10641 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
10642 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
10643 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
10646 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
10647 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
10648 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
10649 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
10650 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
10651 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
10652 to you to figure out, I think.
10657 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
10658 The formats that are supported are @acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME}
10659 and @acronym{S/MIME}, however you need some external programs to get
10664 To handle @acronym{PGP} and @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages, you have to
10665 install an OpenPGP implementation such as GnuPG. The Lisp interface
10666 to GnuPG included with Gnus is called PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg, PGG
10667 Manual}), but Mailcrypt and gpg.el are also supported.
10670 To handle @acronym{S/MIME} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
10671 or newer is recommended.
10675 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
10676 manual (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
10679 @item mm-verify-option
10680 @vindex mm-verify-option
10681 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
10682 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
10683 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10685 @item mm-decrypt-option
10686 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
10687 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
10688 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
10689 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10692 @vindex mml1991-use
10693 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10694 @acronym{PGP} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
10695 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
10699 @vindex mml2015-use
10700 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10701 @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
10702 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
10707 @cindex snarfing keys
10708 @cindex importing PGP keys
10709 @cindex PGP key ring import
10710 Snarfing OpenPGP keys (i.e., importing keys from articles into your
10711 key ring) is not supported explicitly through a menu item or command,
10712 rather Gnus do detect and label keys as @samp{application/pgp-keys},
10713 allowing you to specify whatever action you think is appropriate
10714 through the usual @acronym{MIME} infrastructure. You can use a
10715 @file{~/.mailcap} entry (@pxref{mailcap, , mailcap, emacs-mime, The
10716 Emacs MIME Manual}) such as the following to import keys using GNU
10717 Privacy Guard when you click on the @acronym{MIME} button
10718 (@pxref{Using MIME}).
10721 application/pgp-keys; gpg --import --interactive --verbose; needsterminal
10724 This happens to also be the default action defined in
10725 @code{mailcap-mime-data}.
10728 @section Mailing List
10729 @cindex mailing list
10732 @kindex A M (summary)
10733 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
10734 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
10735 add a @code{to-list} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
10736 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
10739 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
10744 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
10745 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
10746 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
10749 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
10750 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
10751 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
10754 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
10755 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
10756 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
10760 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
10761 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
10762 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
10765 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
10766 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10767 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
10770 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
10771 @findex gnus-mailing-list-archive
10772 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
10777 @node Article Buffer
10778 @chapter Article Buffer
10779 @cindex article buffer
10781 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
10782 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
10783 tell Gnus otherwise.
10786 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
10787 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
10788 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
10789 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
10790 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
10794 @node Hiding Headers
10795 @section Hiding Headers
10796 @cindex hiding headers
10797 @cindex deleting headers
10799 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
10800 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
10802 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
10803 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
10804 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
10805 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
10806 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
10807 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
10808 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseam---and you'll probably want to get rid
10809 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
10810 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
10812 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
10816 @item gnus-visible-headers
10817 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
10818 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
10819 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
10820 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
10822 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
10823 the article and the subject, you'd say:
10826 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
10829 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10832 @item gnus-ignored-headers
10833 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
10834 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
10835 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
10836 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
10837 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
10839 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
10840 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
10843 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
10846 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10849 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
10850 variable will have no effect.
10854 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
10855 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
10856 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
10857 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
10858 the headers are to be displayed.
10860 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
10861 and then the subject, you might say something like:
10864 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
10867 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
10868 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
10870 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
10871 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
10872 You can hide further boring headers by setting
10873 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
10874 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
10875 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead it
10876 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
10879 These conditions are:
10882 Remove all empty headers.
10884 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
10885 @code{Newsgroups} header.
10887 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same addresses as
10888 the @code{From} header, or if the @code{broken-reply-to} group
10891 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
10894 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10895 the current group's @code{to-address} parameter.
10897 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10898 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
10900 Remove the @code{CC} header if it only contains the address identical to
10901 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
10903 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
10906 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
10908 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
10911 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
10914 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
10915 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
10918 This is also the default value for this variable.
10922 @section Using MIME
10923 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
10925 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
10926 while people stand around yawning.
10928 @acronym{MIME}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
10929 while all newsreaders die of fear.
10931 @acronym{MIME} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
10932 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
10933 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
10935 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
10936 @findex gnus-display-mime
10937 Gnus pushes @acronym{MIME} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
10938 to display the @acronym{MIME} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
10939 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
10940 display, save and manipulate the @acronym{MIME} objects.
10942 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
10943 @acronym{MIME} button:
10946 @findex gnus-article-press-button
10947 @item RET (Article)
10948 @kindex RET (Article)
10949 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
10950 Toggle displaying of the @acronym{MIME} object
10951 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}). If built-in viewers can not display
10952 the object, Gnus resorts to external viewers in the @file{mailcap}
10953 files. If a viewer has the @samp{copiousoutput} specification, the
10954 object is displayed inline.
10956 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
10957 @item M-RET (Article)
10958 @kindex M-RET (Article)
10960 Prompt for a method, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
10961 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
10963 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
10965 @kindex t (Article)
10966 View the @acronym{MIME} object as if it were a different @acronym{MIME} media type
10967 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
10969 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
10971 @kindex C (Article)
10972 Prompt for a charset, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
10973 charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
10975 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
10977 @kindex o (Article)
10978 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @acronym{MIME} object
10979 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
10981 @findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
10982 @item C-o (Article)
10983 @kindex C-o (Article)
10984 Prompt for a file name, then save the @acronym{MIME} object and strip it from
10985 the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
10986 suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
10987 like. The stripped @acronym{MIME} object will be referred via the
10988 message/external-body @acronym{MIME} type.
10989 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
10991 @findex gnus-mime-delete-part
10993 @kindex d (Article)
10994 Delete the @acronym{MIME} object from the article and replace it with some
10995 information about the removed @acronym{MIME} object
10996 (@code{gnus-mime-delete-part}).
10998 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
11000 @kindex c (Article)
11001 Copy the @acronym{MIME} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
11002 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}). Compressed files like @file{.gz} and
11003 @file{.bz2} are automatically decompressed if
11004 @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled (@pxref{Compressed Files,,
11005 Accessing Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Editor}).
11007 @findex gnus-mime-print-part
11009 @kindex p (Article)
11010 Print the @acronym{MIME} object (@code{gnus-mime-print-part}). This
11011 command respects the @samp{print=} specifications in the
11012 @file{.mailcap} file.
11014 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
11016 @kindex i (Article)
11017 Insert the contents of the @acronym{MIME} object into the buffer
11018 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as text/plain. If given a prefix, insert
11019 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
11020 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
11021 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @ref{Paging the
11024 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-internally
11026 @kindex E (Article)
11027 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
11028 viewer is available, use an external viewer
11029 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-internally}).
11031 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-externally
11033 @kindex e (Article)
11034 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an external viewer.
11035 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-externally}).
11037 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
11039 @kindex | (Article)
11040 Output the @acronym{MIME} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
11042 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
11044 @kindex . (Article)
11045 Interactively run an action on the @acronym{MIME} object
11046 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
11050 Gnus will display some @acronym{MIME} objects automatically. The way Gnus
11051 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs
11052 @acronym{MIME} manual.
11054 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
11055 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
11056 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @acronym{MIME} has
11057 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
11058 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
11059 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
11060 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
11061 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
11062 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
11064 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
11066 Also @pxref{MIME Commands}.
11069 @node Customizing Articles
11070 @section Customizing Articles
11071 @cindex article customization
11073 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
11074 exist. You can call these functions interactively
11075 (@pxref{Article Washing}), or you can have them
11076 called automatically when you select the articles.
11078 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
11079 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
11080 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
11081 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
11083 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
11084 for sensible values.
11088 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
11091 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
11094 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
11097 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
11100 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
11104 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
11105 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
11106 regexps in the list.
11109 A list where the first element is not a string:
11111 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
11112 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
11113 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
11117 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
11122 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
11123 to the fact that some messages are @acronym{MIME} multipart articles that may
11124 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
11125 considered to contain just a single part.
11127 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
11128 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
11129 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
11130 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
11131 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
11132 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
11133 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
11135 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
11136 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
11137 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
11138 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
11141 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
11142 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
11144 @xref{Article Buttons}.
11146 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
11147 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
11148 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
11149 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
11150 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
11151 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
11152 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
11153 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
11154 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
11155 @item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
11157 @xref{Article Washing}.
11159 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
11160 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
11161 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
11162 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
11163 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
11164 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
11165 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
11167 @xref{Article Date}.
11169 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
11170 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
11171 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
11175 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
11177 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
11179 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
11180 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
11181 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
11185 @item gnus-treat-display-x-face (head)
11189 @item gnus-treat-display-face (head)
11193 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
11194 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
11195 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
11196 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
11197 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
11198 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
11199 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
11200 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
11201 @item gnus-treat-strip-banner (t, last)
11202 @item gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers (head)
11204 @xref{Article Hiding}.
11206 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
11207 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
11208 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
11210 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
11212 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
11213 @item gnus-treat-translate
11214 @item gnus-treat-ansi-sequences (t)
11215 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
11217 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
11218 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
11219 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
11220 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
11222 @xref{Article Header}.
11227 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
11228 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
11229 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
11230 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
11231 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
11235 @node Article Keymap
11236 @section Article Keymap
11238 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
11239 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
11240 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
11241 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
11244 A few additional keystrokes are available:
11249 @kindex SPACE (Article)
11250 @findex gnus-article-next-page
11251 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
11252 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h SPACE h}.
11255 @kindex DEL (Article)
11256 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
11257 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
11258 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h DEL h}.
11261 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
11262 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
11263 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
11264 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
11265 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
11268 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
11269 @findex gnus-article-mail
11270 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
11271 given a prefix, include the mail.
11274 @kindex s (Article)
11275 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
11276 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
11277 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
11280 @kindex ? (Article)
11281 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
11282 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
11283 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
11286 @kindex TAB (Article)
11287 @findex gnus-article-next-button
11288 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
11289 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
11292 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
11293 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
11294 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
11297 @kindex R (Article)
11298 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
11299 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
11300 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If given a prefix, make a
11301 wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
11305 @kindex F (Article)
11306 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
11307 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
11308 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If given a prefix, make
11309 a wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
11317 @section Misc Article
11321 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
11322 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
11323 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
11324 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
11327 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
11328 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
11329 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
11330 Hook used to decode @acronym{MIME} articles. The default value is
11331 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
11333 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
11334 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
11335 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
11336 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
11337 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
11338 the contents of the article buffer.
11340 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
11341 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
11342 Hook called in article mode buffers.
11344 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
11345 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
11346 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
11347 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
11349 @vindex gnus-article-over-scroll
11350 @item gnus-article-over-scroll
11351 If non-@code{nil}, allow scrolling the article buffer even when there
11352 no more new text to scroll in. The default is @code{nil}.
11354 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
11355 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
11356 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
11357 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Summary Buffer Mode
11358 Line}). It accepts the same format specifications as that variable,
11359 with two extensions:
11364 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
11365 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
11366 performed. The characters and their meaning:
11371 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
11374 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
11377 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
11378 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
11379 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
11382 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
11385 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
11388 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
11393 The number of @acronym{MIME} parts in the article.
11397 @vindex gnus-break-pages
11399 @item gnus-break-pages
11400 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
11401 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
11402 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
11403 paging will not be done.
11405 @item gnus-page-delimiter
11406 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
11407 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
11411 @cindex internationalized domain names
11412 @vindex gnus-use-idna
11413 @item gnus-use-idna
11414 This variable controls whether Gnus performs IDNA decoding of
11415 internationalized domain names inside @samp{From}, @samp{To} and
11416 @samp{Cc} headers. @xref{IDNA, ,IDNA,message, The Message Manual},
11417 for how to compose such messages. This requires
11418 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/, GNU Libidn}, and this
11419 variable is only enabled if you have installed it.
11424 @node Composing Messages
11425 @chapter Composing Messages
11426 @cindex composing messages
11429 @cindex sending mail
11434 @cindex using s/mime
11435 @cindex using smime
11437 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
11438 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
11439 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
11440 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
11441 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
11442 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
11445 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
11446 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
11447 * POP before SMTP:: You cannot send a mail unless you read a mail.
11448 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
11449 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
11450 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
11451 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
11452 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
11453 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
11456 Also @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
11457 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
11463 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
11466 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
11467 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
11468 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
11469 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
11470 @code{nil} include all headers.
11472 @item gnus-add-to-list
11473 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
11474 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
11475 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
11477 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11478 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11479 This can also be a function receiving the group name as the only
11480 parameter which should return non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is
11481 needed, or a regular expression matching group names, where
11482 confirmation is should be asked for.
11484 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
11485 press R anyway, this variable might be for you.
11487 @item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11488 @vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11489 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
11490 @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
11491 useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
11496 @node Posting Server
11497 @section Posting Server
11499 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
11500 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
11502 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
11504 It can be quite complicated.
11506 @vindex gnus-post-method
11507 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
11508 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
11509 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
11510 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
11511 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
11512 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
11513 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
11514 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
11515 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
11518 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
11521 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
11522 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
11523 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
11524 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
11526 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
11527 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
11529 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
11530 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
11533 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
11534 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
11536 When sending mail, Message invokes @code{message-send-mail-function}.
11537 The default function, @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}, pipes
11538 your article to the @code{sendmail} binary for further queuing and
11539 sending. When your local system is not configured for sending mail
11540 using @code{sendmail}, and you have access to a remote @acronym{SMTP}
11541 server, you can set @code{message-send-mail-function} to
11542 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and make sure to setup the @code{smtpmail}
11543 package correctly. An example:
11546 (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it
11547 smtpmail-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11550 To the thing similar to this, there is
11551 @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}. It is useful if your @acronym{ISP}
11552 requires the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication.
11553 @xref{POP before SMTP}.
11555 Other possible choices for @code{message-send-mail-function} includes
11556 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
11557 and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
11559 @node POP before SMTP
11560 @section POP before SMTP
11561 @cindex pop before smtp
11562 @findex message-smtpmail-send-it
11563 @findex mail-source-touch-pop
11565 Does your @acronym{ISP} require the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP}
11566 authentication? It is whether you need to connect to the @acronym{POP}
11567 mail server within a certain time before sending mails. If so, there is
11568 a convenient way. To do that, put the following lines in your
11569 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
11572 (setq message-send-mail-function 'message-smtpmail-send-it)
11573 (add-hook 'message-send-mail-hook 'mail-source-touch-pop)
11577 It means to let Gnus connect to the @acronym{POP} mail server in advance
11578 whenever you send a mail. The @code{mail-source-touch-pop} function
11579 does only a @acronym{POP} authentication according to the value of
11580 @code{mail-sources} without fetching mails, just before sending a mail.
11581 Note that you have to use @code{message-smtpmail-send-it} which runs
11582 @code{message-send-mail-hook} rather than @code{smtpmail-send-it} and
11583 set the value of @code{mail-sources} for a @acronym{POP} connection
11584 correctly. @xref{Mail Sources}.
11586 If you have two or more @acronym{POP} mail servers set in
11587 @code{mail-sources}, you may want to specify one of them to
11588 @code{mail-source-primary-source} as the @acronym{POP} mail server to be
11589 used for the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication. If it
11590 is your primary @acronym{POP} mail server (i.e., you are fetching mails
11591 mainly from that server), you can set it permanently as follows:
11594 (setq mail-source-primary-source
11595 '(pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11596 :password "secret"))
11600 Otherwise, bind it dynamically only when performing the
11601 @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication as follows:
11604 (add-hook 'message-send-mail-hook
11606 (let ((mail-source-primary-source
11607 '(pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11608 :password "secret")))
11609 (mail-source-touch-pop))))
11612 @node Mail and Post
11613 @section Mail and Post
11615 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
11619 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
11620 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
11621 @cindex mailing lists
11623 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
11624 gatewayed to the @acronym{NNTP} server, you can read those groups without
11625 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
11626 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
11627 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
11628 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
11629 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
11630 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
11631 still a pain, though.
11633 @item gnus-user-agent
11634 @vindex gnus-user-agent
11637 This variable controls which information should be exposed in the
11638 User-Agent header. It can be one of the symbols @code{gnus} (show only
11639 Gnus version), @code{emacs-gnus} (show only Emacs and Gnus versions),
11640 @code{emacs-gnus-config} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus system
11641 configuration), @code{emacs-gnus-type} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus
11642 system type) or a custom string. If you set it to a string, be sure to
11643 use a valid format, see RFC 2616.
11647 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
11648 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
11649 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
11652 @findex ispell-message
11654 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
11657 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
11658 you're in, you could say something like the following:
11661 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
11665 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
11666 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
11668 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
11671 Modify to suit your needs.
11674 @node Archived Messages
11675 @section Archived Messages
11676 @cindex archived messages
11677 @cindex sent messages
11679 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
11680 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
11681 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
11682 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
11685 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
11686 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
11689 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
11690 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
11691 use to store sent messages. The default is:
11694 (nnfolder "archive"
11695 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
11696 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
11697 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
11698 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
11701 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
11702 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
11703 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
11704 directory chosen, you could say something like:
11707 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
11708 '(nnfolder "archive"
11709 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
11710 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
11711 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
11714 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
11716 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
11717 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
11718 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
11720 This variable can be used to do the following:
11724 Messages will be saved in that group.
11726 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
11727 message will not be stored in the select method given by
11728 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
11729 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
11730 has the default value shown above. Then setting
11731 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
11732 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
11733 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
11736 @item a list of strings
11737 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
11739 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
11740 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
11743 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
11748 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
11750 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
11753 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
11755 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
11758 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
11760 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11761 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
11762 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
11763 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
11766 More complex stuff:
11768 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11769 '((if (message-news-p)
11774 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
11775 messages in one file per month:
11778 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11779 '((if (message-news-p)
11781 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
11784 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
11785 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
11787 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
11788 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
11789 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
11790 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
11791 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
11792 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
11793 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
11794 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
11795 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
11796 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
11798 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
11799 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
11800 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
11801 this will disable archiving.
11804 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
11805 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
11806 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
11807 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
11808 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
11811 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
11812 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
11813 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
11816 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
11817 but the latter is the preferred method.
11819 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11820 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11821 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
11823 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11824 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11825 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
11826 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
11827 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
11828 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
11829 changed in the future.
11834 @node Posting Styles
11835 @section Posting Styles
11836 @cindex posting styles
11839 All them variables, they make my head swim.
11841 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
11842 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
11843 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
11846 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
11847 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
11848 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
11849 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
11850 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
11855 (signature "Peace and happiness")
11856 (organization "What me?"))
11858 (signature "Death to everybody"))
11859 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
11860 (organization "Emacs is it")))
11863 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
11864 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
11865 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
11866 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
11867 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
11868 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
11869 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
11870 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
11872 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
11873 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
11874 If it is the form @code{(header @var{match} @var{regexp})}, then Gnus
11875 will look in the original article for a header whose name is
11876 @var{match} and compare that @var{regexp}. @var{match} and
11877 @var{regexp} are strings. (The original article is the one you are
11878 replying or following up to. If you are not composing a reply or a
11879 followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
11880 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with
11881 no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
11882 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
11883 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is
11884 said to @dfn{match}.
11886 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
11887 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. In
11888 addition, you can also use the @code{(@var{name} :file @var{value})}
11889 form or the @code{(@var{name} :value @var{value})} form. Where
11890 @code{:file} signifies @var{value} represents a file name and its
11891 contents should be used as the attribute value, @code{:value} signifies
11892 @var{value} does not represent a file name explicitly. The attribute
11893 name can be one of:
11896 @item @code{signature}
11897 @item @code{signature-file}
11898 @item @code{x-face-file}
11899 @item @code{address}, overriding @code{user-mail-address}
11900 @item @code{name}, overriding @code{(user-full-name)}
11904 The attribute name can also be a string or a symbol. In that case,
11905 this will be used as a header name, and the value will be inserted in
11906 the headers of the article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header
11907 name will be removed. If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form
11908 is evaluated, and the result is thrown away.
11910 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
11911 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
11912 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
11913 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
11914 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
11915 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
11916 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
11917 references chars lines xref extra.
11919 @vindex message-reply-headers
11921 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
11922 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
11923 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
11925 @findex message-mail-p
11926 @findex message-news-p
11928 So here's a new example:
11931 (setq gnus-posting-styles
11933 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11935 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11936 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11938 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
11939 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; @r{A form}
11940 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
11941 (message-news-p ;; @r{A function symbol}
11942 (signature my-news-signature))
11943 (window-system ;; @r{A value symbol}
11944 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
11945 ;; @r{If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.}
11946 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
11947 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
11948 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; @r{A user defined function}
11949 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
11950 (address "user@@bar.foo")
11951 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
11952 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
11954 (From (save-excursion
11955 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
11956 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
11958 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
11961 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
11962 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
11963 if you fill many roles.
11970 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
11971 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
11972 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
11973 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
11974 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
11976 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
11977 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
11978 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
11979 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
11980 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
11984 @vindex nndraft-directory
11985 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
11986 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
11987 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
11988 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
11989 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
11990 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
11992 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
11993 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
11994 unsubscribe it. The special properties of the draft group comes from
11995 a group property (@pxref{Group Parameters}), and if lost the group
11996 behaves like any other group. This means the commands below will not
11997 be available. To restore the special properties of the group, the
11998 simplest way is to kill the group, using @kbd{C-k}, and restart
11999 Gnus. The group is automatically created again with the
12000 correct parameters. The content of the group is not lost.
12002 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
12003 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
12004 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
12005 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
12006 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
12007 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
12008 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
12009 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
12010 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
12011 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
12012 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
12013 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
12014 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
12015 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
12017 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
12018 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
12019 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
12021 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
12022 @kindex D e (Draft)
12023 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
12024 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
12025 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
12027 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
12030 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
12031 @kindex D s (Draft)
12032 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
12033 @kindex D S (Draft)
12034 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
12035 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
12036 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
12037 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
12038 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
12041 @findex gnus-draft-toggle-sending
12042 @kindex D t (Draft)
12043 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
12044 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
12045 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
12048 @node Rejected Articles
12049 @section Rejected Articles
12050 @cindex rejected articles
12052 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
12053 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
12054 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
12055 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
12057 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
12058 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
12059 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
12060 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
12061 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
12063 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
12064 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
12065 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
12067 @node Signing and encrypting
12068 @section Signing and encrypting
12070 @cindex using s/mime
12071 @cindex using smime
12073 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla
12074 @acronym{PGP} format or @acronym{PGP/MIME} or @acronym{S/MIME}. For
12075 decoding such messages, see the @code{mm-verify-option} and
12076 @code{mm-decrypt-option} options (@pxref{Security}).
12078 @vindex gnus-message-replysign
12079 @vindex gnus-message-replyencrypt
12080 @vindex gnus-message-replysignencrypted
12081 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
12082 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
12083 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
12084 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
12085 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
12086 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
12087 automatically encrypted messages.
12089 Instructing @acronym{MML} to perform security operations on a
12090 @acronym{MIME} part is done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for
12091 signing and the @kbd{C-c C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
12096 @kindex C-c C-m s s (Message)
12097 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
12099 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
12102 @kindex C-c C-m s o (Message)
12103 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
12105 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP}.
12108 @kindex C-c C-m s p (Message)
12109 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
12111 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
12114 @kindex C-c C-m c s (Message)
12115 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
12117 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
12120 @kindex C-c C-m c o (Message)
12121 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
12123 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP}.
12126 @kindex C-c C-m c p (Message)
12127 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
12129 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
12132 @kindex C-c C-m C-n (Message)
12133 @findex mml-unsecure-message
12134 Remove security related @acronym{MML} tags from message.
12138 @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
12140 @node Select Methods
12141 @chapter Select Methods
12142 @cindex foreign groups
12143 @cindex select methods
12145 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
12146 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
12147 @acronym{NNTP} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
12148 personal mail group.
12150 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
12151 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
12152 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
12153 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
12154 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
12155 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
12157 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
12158 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
12160 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
12163 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @acronym{NNTP} server
12164 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
12165 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
12166 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
12167 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
12169 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
12172 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
12173 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
12174 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
12175 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
12176 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
12177 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
12178 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
12179 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
12183 @node Server Buffer
12184 @section Server Buffer
12186 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
12187 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
12188 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
12189 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
12190 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
12191 back end represents a virtual server.
12193 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
12194 different actual @acronym{NNTP} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
12195 on the same actual @acronym{NNTP} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
12196 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
12198 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
12199 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
12200 @acronym{NNTP} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
12201 hangs if queried for @acronym{NOV} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
12202 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
12203 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
12204 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
12206 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
12207 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
12210 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
12211 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
12212 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
12213 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
12214 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
12215 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
12216 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
12219 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
12220 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
12223 @node Server Buffer Format
12224 @subsection Server Buffer Format
12225 @cindex server buffer format
12227 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
12228 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
12229 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
12230 variable, with some simple extensions:
12235 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
12238 The name of this server.
12241 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
12244 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
12247 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
12248 The mode line can also be customized by using the
12249 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
12250 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
12260 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
12263 @node Server Commands
12264 @subsection Server Commands
12265 @cindex server commands
12271 @findex gnus-server-add-server
12272 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
12276 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
12277 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
12280 @kindex SPACE (Server)
12281 @findex gnus-server-read-server
12282 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
12286 @findex gnus-server-exit
12287 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
12291 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
12292 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
12296 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
12297 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
12301 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
12302 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
12306 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
12307 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
12311 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
12312 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
12313 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
12318 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
12319 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
12320 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
12321 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
12326 @node Example Methods
12327 @subsection Example Methods
12329 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
12332 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
12335 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
12341 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
12342 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
12345 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
12346 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
12348 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
12349 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
12353 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
12356 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
12357 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
12359 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
12360 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
12361 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
12365 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
12368 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
12371 Here's the method for a public spool:
12375 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
12376 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
12382 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @acronym{NNTP}
12383 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
12384 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12385 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
12386 should probably look something like this:
12390 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
12391 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
12392 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
12393 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
12396 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
12397 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
12398 configuration to the example above:
12401 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
12404 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}.
12406 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
12407 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
12408 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
12412 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12413 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
12414 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
12415 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
12418 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
12419 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
12420 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
12421 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
12424 @node Creating a Virtual Server
12425 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
12427 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
12428 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
12430 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
12431 would probably be best to use @code{nnml} to read the cache. You
12432 could also use @code{nnspool} or @code{nnmh}, though.
12434 Type @kbd{a nnml RET cache RET}.
12436 You should now have a brand new @code{nnml} virtual server called
12437 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
12438 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
12439 will contain the following:
12449 (nnml-directory "~/News/cache/")
12450 (nnml-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
12453 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
12454 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
12455 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
12458 @node Server Variables
12459 @subsection Server Variables
12460 @cindex server variables
12461 @cindex server parameters
12463 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
12464 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
12465 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
12466 change the ``base'' variable after the variables have been loaded, you
12467 won't change the ``derived'' variables.
12469 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
12470 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
12471 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
12472 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
12473 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
12474 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
12475 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
12476 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
12477 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
12481 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
12482 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
12483 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
12486 Server variables are often called @dfn{server parameters}.
12488 @node Servers and Methods
12489 @subsection Servers and Methods
12491 Wherever you would normally use a select method
12492 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
12493 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
12494 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
12498 @node Unavailable Servers
12499 @subsection Unavailable Servers
12501 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
12502 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
12503 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
12504 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
12505 actually the case or not.
12507 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
12508 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
12509 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
12510 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
12511 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
12512 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
12513 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
12514 it will regard that server as ``down''.
12516 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
12517 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
12519 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
12520 with the following commands:
12526 @findex gnus-server-open-server
12527 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
12528 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
12532 @findex gnus-server-close-server
12533 Close the connection (if any) to the server
12534 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
12538 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
12539 Mark the current server as unreachable
12540 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
12543 @kindex M-o (Server)
12544 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
12545 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
12546 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
12549 @kindex M-c (Server)
12550 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
12551 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
12552 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
12556 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
12557 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
12558 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
12562 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
12563 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
12569 @section Getting News
12570 @cindex reading news
12571 @cindex news back ends
12573 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
12574 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @acronym{NNTP} server,
12575 or it can read from a local spool.
12578 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
12579 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
12587 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @acronym{NNTP} server is rather easy.
12588 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @acronym{NNTP}
12589 server as the, uhm, address.
12591 If the @acronym{NNTP} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
12592 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
12593 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
12594 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12596 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
12597 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
12598 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
12600 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
12605 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
12606 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
12607 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
12609 @cindex authentification
12610 @cindex nntp authentification
12611 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12612 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
12613 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
12614 commands to the @acronym{NNTP} server after it has been contacted. By
12615 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
12616 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
12617 present in this hook.
12619 @item nntp-authinfo-function
12620 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
12621 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12622 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
12623 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @acronym{NNTP}
12624 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
12625 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
12626 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
12627 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
12628 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
12629 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
12630 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
12634 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
12637 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
12639 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
12640 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
12641 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
12642 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
12643 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
12644 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
12645 @samp{force} is explained below.
12649 Here's an example file:
12652 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
12653 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
12656 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
12657 have to be first, for instance.
12659 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
12660 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
12661 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
12662 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
12663 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
12664 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
12665 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
12667 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
12668 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
12674 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
12675 previously mentioned.
12677 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
12679 @item nntp-server-action-alist
12680 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
12681 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
12682 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
12683 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
12686 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
12687 '(("innd" (ding))))
12690 You probably don't want to do that, though.
12692 The default value is
12695 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
12696 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
12697 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
12700 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
12701 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
12703 @item nntp-maximum-request
12704 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
12705 If the @acronym{NNTP} server doesn't support @acronym{NOV} headers, this back end
12706 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
12707 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
12708 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
12709 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
12710 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
12712 @item nntp-connection-timeout
12713 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
12714 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
12715 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @acronym{NNTP} servers not
12716 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
12717 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
12718 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
12719 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
12720 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
12721 no timeouts are done.
12723 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
12724 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
12725 @c @cindex PPP connections
12726 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
12727 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
12728 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
12729 @c changes after connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will simply sit
12730 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
12731 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
12732 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
12733 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
12734 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
12735 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
12737 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
12738 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
12739 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
12740 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
12741 @c described above.
12743 @item nntp-server-hook
12744 @vindex nntp-server-hook
12745 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @acronym{NNTP}
12748 @item nntp-buggy-select
12749 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
12750 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
12752 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
12753 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
12754 If the @acronym{NNTP} server does not support @acronym{NOV}, you could set this
12755 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @acronym{NOV}
12758 @item nntp-xover-commands
12759 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
12760 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
12762 List of strings used as commands to fetch @acronym{NOV} lines from a
12763 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
12767 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
12768 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @acronym{NOV} lines to
12769 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
12770 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
12771 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @acronym{NOV}
12772 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
12773 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
12774 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
12775 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
12776 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
12777 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
12779 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
12780 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
12781 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @acronym{NNTP} server.
12783 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12784 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12785 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
12786 server closes connection.
12788 @item nntp-record-commands
12789 @vindex nntp-record-commands
12790 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
12791 @acronym{NNTP} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
12792 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@acronym{NNTP} connection
12793 that doesn't seem to work.
12795 @item nntp-open-connection-function
12796 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
12797 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
12798 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
12799 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
12800 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
12801 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
12802 indirect ones (two pre-made).
12804 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
12805 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
12806 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
12807 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
12808 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
12809 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
12810 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
12813 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
12816 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
12817 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
12819 @item nntp-read-timeout
12820 @vindex nntp-read-timeout
12821 How long nntp should wait between checking for the end of output.
12822 Shorter values mean quicker response, but is more CPU intensive. The
12823 default is 0.1 seconds. If you have a slow line to the server (and
12824 don't like to see Emacs eat your available CPU power), you might set
12830 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
12831 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
12832 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
12833 * NNTP marks:: Storing marks for @acronym{NNTP} servers.
12837 @node Direct Functions
12838 @subsubsection Direct Functions
12839 @cindex direct connection functions
12841 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
12842 between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server. The behavior of these
12843 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
12844 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12847 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
12848 @item nntp-open-network-stream
12849 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
12852 @findex nntp-open-tls-stream
12853 @item nntp-open-tls-stream
12854 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12855 this you must have @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/, GNUTLS}
12856 installed. You then define a server as follows:
12859 ;; @r{"nntps" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
12860 ;; @r{however, @samp{gnutls-cli -p} doesn't like named ports.}
12862 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12863 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-tls-stream)
12864 (nntp-port-number )
12865 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12868 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
12869 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
12870 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12871 this you must have @uref{http://www.openssl.org, OpenSSL} or
12872 @uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL, SSLeay} installed. You
12873 then define a server as follows:
12876 ;; @r{"snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
12877 ;; @r{however, @samp{openssl s_client -port} doesn't like named ports.}
12879 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12880 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
12881 (nntp-port-number 563)
12882 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12885 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
12886 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
12887 Opens a connection to an @acronym{NNTP} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
12888 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
12889 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
12890 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
12891 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
12892 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
12896 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12897 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
12898 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
12901 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
12902 session, which is not a good idea.
12906 @node Indirect Functions
12907 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
12908 @cindex indirect connection functions
12910 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
12911 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12912 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
12913 the ``via'' family of connection: they're all prefixed with ``via'' to make
12914 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
12915 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12918 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12919 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12920 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
12921 to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from there. This is useful for instance if
12922 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
12924 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12927 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
12928 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
12929 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
12930 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
12932 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12933 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12934 List of strings to be used as the switches to
12935 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
12936 @samp{ssh} for @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}, you may set this to
12937 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections, otherwise set
12938 this to @samp{("-t" "-e" "none")} or @samp{("-C" "-t" "-e" "none")} if
12939 the telnet command requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate
12943 Note that you may want to change the value for @code{nntp-end-of-line}
12944 to @samp{\n} (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12946 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat
12947 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat
12948 Does essentially the same, but uses
12949 @uref{http://netcat.sourceforge.net/, netcat} instead of @samp{telnet}
12950 to connect to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from the intermediate host.
12952 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat}-specific variables:
12955 @item nntp-via-netcat-command
12956 @vindex nntp-via-netcat-command
12957 Command used to connect to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from the
12958 intermediate host. The default is @samp{nc}. You can also use other
12959 programs like @uref{http://www.imasy.or.jp/~gotoh/ssh/connect.html,
12962 @item nntp-via-netcat-switches
12963 @vindex nntp-via-netcat-switches
12964 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
12965 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @code{nil}.
12967 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
12968 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
12969 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
12970 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
12972 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12973 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12974 List of strings to be used as the switches to
12975 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}.
12978 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12979 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12980 Does essentially also the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
12981 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
12983 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12986 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
12987 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
12988 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
12991 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
12992 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
12993 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
12994 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
12996 @item nntp-via-user-password
12997 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
12998 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
13000 @item nntp-via-envuser
13001 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
13002 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
13003 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
13004 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
13006 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
13007 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
13008 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
13009 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
13013 Note that you may want to change the value for @code{nntp-end-of-line}
13014 to @samp{\n} (@pxref{Common Variables}).
13018 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
13023 @item nntp-via-user-name
13024 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
13025 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
13027 @item nntp-via-address
13028 @vindex nntp-via-address
13029 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
13034 @node Common Variables
13035 @subsubsection Common Variables
13037 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
13038 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
13043 @item nntp-pre-command
13044 @vindex nntp-pre-command
13045 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native
13046 connection function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream},
13047 @code{nntp-open-tls-stream}, and @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is
13048 where you would put a @samp{SOCKS} wrapper for instance.
13051 @vindex nntp-address
13052 The address of the @acronym{NNTP} server.
13054 @item nntp-port-number
13055 @vindex nntp-port-number
13056 Port number to connect to the @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
13057 @samp{nntp}. If you use @acronym{NNTP} over
13058 @acronym{tls}/@acronym{ssl}, you may want to use integer ports rather
13059 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews} or
13060 @samp{nntps}), because external @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} tools may
13061 not work with named ports.
13063 @item nntp-end-of-line
13064 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
13065 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @acronym{NNTP}
13066 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
13067 using a non native telnet connection function.
13069 @item nntp-telnet-command
13070 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
13071 Command to use when connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server through
13072 @samp{telnet}. This is @emph{not} for an intermediate host. This is
13073 just for the real @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
13076 @item nntp-telnet-switches
13077 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
13078 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
13084 @subsubsection NNTP marks
13085 @cindex storing NNTP marks
13087 Gnus stores marks (@pxref{Marking Articles}) for @acronym{NNTP}
13088 servers in marks files. A marks file records what marks you have set
13089 in a group and each file is specific to the corresponding server.
13090 Marks files are stored in @file{~/News/marks}
13091 (@code{nntp-marks-directory}) under a classic hierarchy resembling
13092 that of a news server, for example marks for the group
13093 @samp{gmane.discuss} on the news.gmane.org server will be stored in
13094 the file @file{~/News/marks/news.gmane.org/gmane/discuss/.marks}.
13096 Marks files are useful because you can copy the @file{~/News/marks}
13097 directory (using rsync, scp or whatever) to another Gnus installation,
13098 and it will realize what articles you have read and marked. The data
13099 in @file{~/News/marks} has priority over the same data in
13100 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
13102 Note that marks files are very much server-specific: Gnus remembers
13103 the article numbers so if you don't use the same servers on both
13104 installations things are most likely to break (most @acronym{NNTP}
13105 servers do not use the same article numbers as any other server).
13106 However, if you use servers A, B, C on one installation and servers A,
13107 D, E on the other, you can sync the marks files for A and then you'll
13108 get synchronization for that server between the two installations.
13110 Using @acronym{NNTP} marks can possibly incur a performance penalty so
13111 if Gnus feels sluggish, try setting the @code{nntp-marks-is-evil}
13112 variable to @code{t}. Marks will then be stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
13118 @item nntp-marks-is-evil
13119 @vindex nntp-marks-is-evil
13120 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any marks files. The
13121 default is @code{nil}.
13123 @item nntp-marks-directory
13124 @vindex nntp-marks-directory
13125 The directory where marks for nntp groups will be stored.
13131 @subsection News Spool
13135 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
13136 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
13137 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
13140 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
13141 anything else) as the address.
13143 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
13144 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
13145 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
13146 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
13150 @item nnspool-inews-program
13151 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
13152 Program used to post an article.
13154 @item nnspool-inews-switches
13155 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
13156 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
13158 @item nnspool-spool-directory
13159 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
13160 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
13161 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
13163 @item nnspool-nov-directory
13164 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
13165 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @acronym{NOV} files. This is normally@*
13166 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
13168 @item nnspool-lib-dir
13169 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
13170 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
13172 @item nnspool-active-file
13173 @vindex nnspool-active-file
13174 The name of the active file.
13176 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
13177 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
13178 The name of the group descriptions file.
13180 @item nnspool-history-file
13181 @vindex nnspool-history-file
13182 The name of the news history file.
13184 @item nnspool-active-times-file
13185 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
13186 The name of the active date file.
13188 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
13189 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
13190 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @acronym{NOV} files
13193 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
13194 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
13196 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
13197 relevant portion from the overview file. If @code{nil},
13198 @code{nnspool} will load the entire file into a buffer and process it
13205 @section Getting Mail
13206 @cindex reading mail
13209 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
13213 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
13214 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
13215 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
13216 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
13217 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
13218 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
13219 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
13220 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
13221 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
13222 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
13223 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
13224 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
13225 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
13229 @node Mail in a Newsreader
13230 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
13232 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
13233 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
13234 of a culture shock.
13236 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
13237 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
13239 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
13240 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
13241 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
13242 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
13244 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
13246 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
13247 deleted? How awful!
13249 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
13250 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
13251 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
13252 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @ref{Expiring
13255 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
13256 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
13257 they want to treat a message.
13259 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
13260 via @acronym{SMTP}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
13261 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
13262 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
13263 archived somewhere else.
13265 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
13266 These are transported via @acronym{NNTP}, and are therefore news. But we may need
13267 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
13268 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
13269 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
13271 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
13272 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
13273 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
13275 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
13276 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
13279 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
13280 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
13281 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
13282 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
13283 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
13285 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
13286 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
13287 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
13288 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
13289 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
13290 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
13294 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
13295 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
13297 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
13298 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
13299 and things will happen automatically.
13301 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a ``one file per
13302 mail'' back end), you could put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
13305 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
13308 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
13309 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
13310 directory, which is @file{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
13311 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
13312 like any other group.
13314 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
13317 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13318 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13319 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
13323 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
13324 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
13325 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
13328 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
13329 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
13330 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
13333 @node Splitting Mail
13334 @subsection Splitting Mail
13335 @cindex splitting mail
13336 @cindex mail splitting
13337 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
13339 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
13340 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
13341 to be split into groups.
13344 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13345 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13346 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
13347 ("mail.other" "")))
13350 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
13351 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
13352 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
13353 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
13354 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
13355 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
13356 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
13359 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
13363 In that case, @code{nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded} controls whether
13364 the inserted text should be made lowercase. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
13366 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
13367 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
13368 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
13369 mail belongs in that group.
13371 @cindex @samp{bogus} group
13372 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
13373 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{""} so that it matches any mails
13374 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
13375 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first rule
13376 to make a match will ``win'', unless you have crossposting enabled. In
13377 that case, all matching rules will ``win''.) If no rule matched, the mail
13378 will end up in the @samp{bogus} group. When new groups are created by
13379 splitting mail, you may want to run @code{gnus-group-find-new-groups} to
13380 see the new groups. This also applies to the @samp{bogus} group.
13382 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
13383 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
13384 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
13385 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
13386 thinks should carry this mail message.
13388 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
13389 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
13390 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
13391 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
13393 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
13394 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
13395 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
13396 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
13397 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{""}) group.
13399 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
13402 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
13403 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
13404 links. If that's the case for you, set
13405 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
13406 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
13408 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
13409 @findex nnmail-split-history
13410 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
13411 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
13412 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
13413 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
13416 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
13417 Header lines longer than the value of
13418 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
13421 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
13422 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
13423 By default the splitting codes @acronym{MIME} decodes headers so you
13424 can match on non-@acronym{ASCII} strings. The
13425 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset} variable specifies the default
13426 charset for decoding. The behaviour can be turned off completely by
13427 binding @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} to @code{nil}, which is
13428 useful if you want to match articles based on the raw header data.
13430 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
13431 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If you
13432 specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable @code{mail-sources}
13433 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}), however, then splitting does
13434 @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
13435 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-@code{nil} value to make
13436 splitting happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on
13437 other kinds of entries.)
13439 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
13440 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
13441 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
13442 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
13443 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
13444 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
13445 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
13446 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
13447 month's rent money.
13451 @subsection Mail Sources
13453 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from
13454 a @acronym{POP} mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a
13455 maildir, for instance.
13458 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
13459 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
13460 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
13464 @node Mail Source Specifiers
13465 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
13467 @cindex mail server
13470 @cindex mail source
13472 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
13473 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
13478 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
13481 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
13482 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
13483 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
13486 The following mail source types are available:
13490 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
13496 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @env{MAIL}
13497 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
13498 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
13502 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13505 An example file mail source:
13508 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
13511 Or using the default file name:
13517 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best
13518 to use @acronym{POP} or @acronym{IMAP} or the like to fetch the mail.
13519 You can not use ange-ftp file names here---it has no way to lock the
13520 mail spool while moving the mail.
13522 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
13526 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
13529 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
13533 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
13536 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
13538 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
13541 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
13545 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
13546 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
13547 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
13548 That is, there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that
13549 directory and groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool}
13550 will be put in the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix
13551 to be used instead of @code{.spool}.) Setting
13552 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-@code{nil} forces
13553 Gnus to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful
13554 if you want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
13556 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
13557 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
13558 that to a non-@code{nil} value, then the normal splitting process is
13559 applied to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
13565 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
13569 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
13573 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
13574 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
13575 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
13576 predicate are considered.
13580 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13584 An example directory mail source:
13587 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
13592 Get mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
13598 The name of the @acronym{POP} server. The default is taken from the
13599 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13602 The port number of the @acronym{POP} server. This can be a number (eg,
13603 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
13604 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
13605 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
13606 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
13609 The user name to give to the @acronym{POP} server. The default is the login
13613 The password to give to the @acronym{POP} server. If not specified,
13614 the user is prompted.
13617 The program to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. This
13618 should be a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
13621 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
13624 The valid format specifier characters are:
13628 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
13629 included in this string.
13632 The name of the server.
13635 The port number of the server.
13638 The user name to use.
13641 The password to use.
13644 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13645 corresponding keywords.
13648 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13649 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13652 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13653 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13656 The function to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. The
13657 function is called with one parameter---the name of the file where the
13658 mail should be moved to.
13660 @item :authentication
13661 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
13662 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
13667 @vindex pop3-movemail
13668 @vindex pop3-leave-mail-on-server
13669 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
13670 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used. If the
13671 @code{pop3-leave-mail-on-server} is non-@code{nil} the mail is to be
13672 left on the @acronym{POP} server after fetching when using
13673 @code{pop3-movemail}. Note that POP servers maintain no state
13674 information between sessions, so what the client believes is there and
13675 what is actually there may not match up. If they do not, then the whole
13676 thing can fall apart and leave you with a corrupt mailbox.
13678 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default @acronym{POP} server,
13679 using the default user name, and default fetcher:
13685 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
13688 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
13689 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
13692 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
13695 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
13699 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
13700 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
13701 contains exactly one mail.
13707 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
13708 taken from the @env{MAILDIR} environment variable or
13711 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
13712 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
13714 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
13715 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
13716 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
13719 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
13720 from locking problems).
13724 Two example maildir mail sources:
13727 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
13728 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
13732 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
13737 Get mail from a @acronym{IMAP} server. If you don't want to use
13738 @acronym{IMAP} as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie
13739 with nnimap), for some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar
13740 to a @acronym{POP} server and fetches articles from a given
13741 @acronym{IMAP} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for more information.
13743 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} and STARTTLS support you
13744 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
13750 The name of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is taken from the
13751 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13754 The port number of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
13755 @samp{993} for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} connections.
13758 The user name to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is the login
13762 The password to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. If not specified, the user is
13766 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
13767 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
13768 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{tls},
13769 @samp{ssl}, @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
13771 @item :authentication
13772 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
13773 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
13774 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
13775 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
13778 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
13779 mapped into the @code{imap-shell-program} variable. This should be a
13780 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
13786 The valid format specifier characters are:
13790 The name of the server.
13793 User name from @code{imap-default-user}.
13796 The port number of the server.
13799 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13800 corresponding keywords.
13803 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
13804 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
13807 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
13808 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
13809 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @acronym{IMAP} client and mark some
13810 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
13811 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
13812 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
13815 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
13816 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
13817 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
13818 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
13821 If non-@code{nil}, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the
13822 mailbox after finishing the fetch.
13826 An example @acronym{IMAP} mail source:
13829 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
13831 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
13835 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{http://www.hotmail.com/},
13836 @uref{http://webmail.netscape.com/}, @uref{http://www.netaddress.com/},
13837 @uref{http://mail.yahoo.com/}.
13839 NOTE: Webmail largely depends on cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
13840 required for url "4.0pre.46".
13842 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
13848 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
13849 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
13852 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
13856 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
13860 If non-@code{nil}, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to
13861 trash folder after finishing the fetch.
13865 An example webmail source:
13868 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
13870 :password "secret")
13875 @item Common Keywords
13876 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
13882 If non-@code{nil}, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you
13883 use directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this
13888 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
13893 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
13894 useful when you use local mail and news.
13899 @subsubsection Function Interface
13901 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
13902 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
13903 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
13904 consider the following mail-source setting:
13907 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
13908 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
13911 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
13912 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
13913 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
13914 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
13915 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
13917 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
13920 @node Mail Source Customization
13921 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
13923 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
13924 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
13928 @item mail-source-crash-box
13929 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
13930 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is@*
13931 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
13933 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
13934 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
13935 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them. If
13936 @code{t}, delete the files immediately, if @code{nil}, never delete any
13937 files. If a positive number, delete files older than number of days
13938 (This will only happen, when receiving new mail). You may also set
13939 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} to @code{nil} and call
13940 @code{mail-source-delete-old-incoming} from a hook or interactively.
13942 @item mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13943 @vindex mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13944 If non-@code{nil}, ask for for confirmation before deleting old incoming
13945 files. This variable only applies when
13946 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is a positive number.
13948 @item mail-source-ignore-errors
13949 @vindex mail-source-ignore-errors
13950 If non-@code{nil}, ignore errors when reading mail from a mail source.
13952 @item mail-source-directory
13953 @vindex mail-source-directory
13954 Directory where incoming mail source files (if any) will be stored. The
13955 default is @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for
13956 is to say where the incoming files will be stored if the variable
13957 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil} or a number.
13959 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13960 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13961 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
13962 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
13963 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
13964 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
13966 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
13967 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
13968 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
13970 @item mail-source-movemail-program
13971 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
13972 If non-@code{nil}, name of program for fetching new mail. If
13973 @code{nil}, @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
13978 @node Fetching Mail
13979 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
13981 @vindex mail-sources
13982 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
13983 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
13984 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
13985 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
13987 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
13988 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
13991 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a
13992 @acronym{POP} mail server, you'd say something like:
13997 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13998 :password "secret")))
14001 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
14005 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
14006 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
14009 :password "secret")))
14013 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
14014 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
14015 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
14016 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
14017 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
14018 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
14022 @node Mail Back End Variables
14023 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
14025 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
14029 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
14030 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
14031 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
14032 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
14034 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
14035 @item nnmail-split-hook
14036 @findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
14037 @cindex RFC 1522 decoding
14038 @cindex RFC 2047 decoding
14039 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
14040 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
14041 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
14042 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
14043 in the buffer will show up in any files.
14044 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
14047 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
14048 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
14049 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
14050 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
14051 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
14052 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
14053 starting to handle the new mail) and
14054 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
14055 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
14056 default file modes the new mail files get:
14059 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
14060 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
14062 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
14063 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
14066 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
14067 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
14068 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
14069 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
14070 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
14071 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
14072 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
14074 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
14075 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
14076 @findex delete-file
14077 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
14079 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
14080 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
14081 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
14082 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
14083 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
14085 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
14086 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
14087 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
14088 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
14089 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
14091 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
14092 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
14093 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
14098 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
14099 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
14100 @cindex mail splitting
14101 @cindex fancy mail splitting
14103 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
14104 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
14105 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
14106 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
14107 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
14108 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
14110 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
14113 ;; @r{Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of}
14114 ;; @r{the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group}
14115 ;; @r{from real errors.}
14116 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
14118 ;; @r{Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant}
14119 ;; @r{groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the}
14120 ;; @r{(ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.}
14121 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
14122 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
14123 ;; @r{Other mailing lists@dots{}}
14124 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
14125 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
14126 ;; @r{Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent}
14127 ;; @r{cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to}
14128 ;; @r{the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the}
14129 ;; @r{message was really cross-posted.}
14130 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
14131 (any "mypackage@@somewhere" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
14132 ;; @r{People@dots{}}
14133 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
14134 ;; @r{Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.}
14138 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a
14139 (possibly) recursive structure where each split may contain other
14140 splits. Here are the possible split syntaxes:
14145 If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name. Normal
14146 regexp match expansion will be done. See below for examples.
14148 @item (@var{field} @var{value} [- @var{restrict} [@dots{}] ] @var{split})
14149 If the split is a list, the first element of which is a string, then
14150 store the message as specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field}
14151 (a regexp) contains @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict}
14152 (yet another regexp) matches some string after @var{field} and before
14153 the end of the matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If
14154 none of the @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
14156 @item (| @var{split} @dots{})
14157 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{|} (vertical
14158 bar), then process each @var{split} until one of them matches. A
14159 @var{split} is said to match if it will cause the mail message to be
14160 stored in one or more groups.
14162 @item (& @var{split} @dots{})
14163 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{&}, then
14164 process all @var{split}s in the list.
14167 If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save (i.e., delete)
14168 this message. Use with extreme caution.
14170 @item (: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})
14171 If the split is a list, and the first element is @samp{:}, then the
14172 second element will be called as a function with @var{args} given as
14173 arguments. The function should return a @var{split}.
14176 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
14177 body of the messages:
14180 (defun split-on-body ()
14184 (goto-char (point-min))
14185 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
14189 The buffer is narrowed to the message in question when @var{function}
14190 is run. That's why @code{(widen)} needs to be called after
14191 @code{save-excursion} and @code{save-restriction} in the example
14192 above. Also note that with the nnimap back end, message bodies will
14193 not be downloaded by default. You need to set
14194 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
14195 (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}).
14197 @item (! @var{func} @var{split})
14198 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{!}, then
14199 @var{split} will be processed, and @var{func} will be called as a
14200 function with the result of @var{split} as argument. @var{func}
14201 should return a split.
14204 If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
14208 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
14209 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
14210 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
14211 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
14212 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
14214 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
14215 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be Lisp symbols, in that case
14216 they are expanded as specified by the variable
14217 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells,
14218 where the @sc{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @sc{cdr}
14219 contains the associated value. Predefined entries in
14220 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist} include:
14224 Matches the @samp{From}, @samp{Sender} and @samp{Resent-From} fields.
14226 Matches the @samp{To}, @samp{Cc}, @samp{Apparently-To},
14227 @samp{Resent-To} and @samp{Resent-Cc} fields.
14229 Is the union of the @code{from} and @code{to} entries.
14232 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
14233 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
14234 when all this splitting is performed.
14236 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
14237 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
14238 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
14241 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
14244 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
14245 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
14247 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
14248 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
14249 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
14250 groupings 1 through 9.
14252 @vindex nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded
14253 Where @code{nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded} controls whether the
14254 lowercase of the matched string should be used for the substitution.
14255 Setting it as non-@code{nil} is useful to avoid the creation of multiple
14256 groups when users send to an address using different case
14257 (i.e. mailing-list@@domain vs Mailing-List@@Domain). The default value
14260 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words
14261 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} controls whether partial
14262 words are matched during fancy splitting.
14264 Normally, regular expressions given in @code{nnmail-split-fancy} are
14265 implicitly surrounded by @code{\<...\>} markers, which are word
14266 delimiters. If this variable is true, they are not implicitly
14267 surrounded by anything.
14270 (any "joe" "joemail")
14273 In this example, messages sent from @samp{joedavis@@foo.org} will
14274 normally not be filed in @samp{joemail}. With
14275 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} set to t, however, the
14276 match will happen. In effect, the requirement of a word boundary is
14277 removed and instead the match becomes more like a grep.
14279 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
14280 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
14281 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
14282 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
14283 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
14284 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
14285 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
14286 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
14287 it once per thread.
14289 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates}
14290 and @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-@code{nil}
14291 value. And then you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}
14292 using the colon feature, like so:
14294 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; @r{or @code{delete}}
14295 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
14297 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
14298 ;; @r{other splits go here}
14302 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
14303 non-@code{nil}, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees
14304 in the file specified by the variable
14305 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, together with the group it is in
14306 (the group is omitted for non-mail messages). When mail splitting is
14307 invoked, the function @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks
14308 at the References (and In-Reply-To) header of each message to split
14309 and searches the file specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}
14310 for the message ids. When it has found a parent, it returns the
14311 corresponding group name unless the group name matches the regexp
14312 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is
14313 recommended that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a
14314 somewhat higher number than the default so that the message ids are
14315 still in the cache. (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some
14316 300 kBytes in size.)
14317 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
14318 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
14319 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
14320 messages goes into the new group.
14322 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
14323 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
14324 outgoing messages are written to an ``outgoing'' group, you could set
14325 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
14326 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
14327 ``outgoing'' group.
14330 @node Group Mail Splitting
14331 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
14332 @cindex mail splitting
14333 @cindex group mail splitting
14335 @findex gnus-group-split
14336 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
14337 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
14338 You just have to set @code{to-list} and/or @code{to-address} in group
14339 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
14340 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
14341 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
14342 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @code{to-list} or
14343 @code{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
14345 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
14346 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @code{extra-aliases} group
14347 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
14348 rather use a regular expression, set @code{split-regexp}.
14350 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
14351 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
14352 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
14353 @code{to-list}, @code{to-address}, all of @code{extra-aliases} and all
14354 matches of @code{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
14355 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
14356 @code{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
14358 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
14359 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
14360 parameter @code{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
14361 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
14362 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @code{split-spec} may be set to
14363 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
14364 @code{gnus-group-split}.
14366 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
14367 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
14368 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
14369 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
14370 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
14371 some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
14372 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
14373 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
14374 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
14375 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
14376 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
14377 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
14378 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
14380 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
14385 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
14386 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
14388 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
14389 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
14390 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
14391 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
14393 ((split-spec . catch-all))
14396 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
14397 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
14398 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
14401 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
14402 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
14403 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
14407 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
14408 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
14409 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
14413 (: gnus-group-split-fancy @var{groups} @var{no-crosspost} @var{catch-all})
14416 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
14417 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
14418 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
14419 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fall back
14420 fancy split, used like @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
14421 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @code{split-regexp} matches the
14422 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
14423 Otherwise, if some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
14424 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
14426 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
14427 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
14428 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
14429 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
14430 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
14431 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
14432 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
14433 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
14434 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
14436 @findex gnus-group-split-update
14437 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
14438 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
14439 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
14440 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
14441 you. For example, add to your @file{~/.gnus.el}:
14444 (gnus-group-split-setup @var{auto-update} @var{catch-all})
14447 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
14448 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
14449 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
14450 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
14451 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
14454 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
14455 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
14456 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
14457 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
14459 @node Incorporating Old Mail
14460 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
14461 @cindex incorporating old mail
14462 @cindex import old mail
14464 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
14465 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
14466 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
14469 Doing so can be quite easy.
14471 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
14472 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
14473 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
14474 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
14475 your @code{nnml} groups.
14481 Go to the group buffer.
14484 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
14485 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14488 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
14491 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
14492 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
14495 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
14496 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
14499 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
14500 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
14501 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
14502 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
14503 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
14505 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
14506 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
14507 using the new mail back end.
14510 @node Expiring Mail
14511 @subsection Expiring Mail
14512 @cindex article expiry
14514 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
14515 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
14516 different approach to mail reading.
14518 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
14519 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
14520 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
14521 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
14522 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
14523 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
14526 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
14527 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default key bindings, this means
14528 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
14529 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
14530 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
14531 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
14532 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
14533 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
14534 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
14536 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
14537 two features, called ``auto-expire'' and ``total-expire'', that can help you
14538 with this. In a nutshell, ``auto-expire'' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
14539 for you when you select an article. And ``total-expire'' means that Gnus
14540 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
14541 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
14542 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
14545 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
14546 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
14547 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
14548 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
14549 into its own group.)
14551 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
14552 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
14553 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
14554 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
14555 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
14556 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
14557 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive
14558 Scoring}). Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
14561 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
14562 Groups that match the regular expression
14563 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
14564 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
14565 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
14567 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
14568 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
14569 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
14570 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
14571 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
14573 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
14575 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
14576 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
14577 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
14580 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
14581 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
14582 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
14583 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
14584 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
14586 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
14587 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
14590 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
14591 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
14594 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
14595 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
14597 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
14598 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
14599 don't really mix very well.
14601 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
14602 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
14603 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
14604 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
14607 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
14608 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
14609 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
14610 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
14613 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14615 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14617 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
14619 ((string= group "mail.junk")
14621 ((string= group "important")
14627 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
14628 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
14630 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
14631 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
14632 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
14635 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
14636 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
14638 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
14639 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
14640 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
14641 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
14642 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
14643 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
14644 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
14645 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
14646 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
14647 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
14648 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
14649 from as its parameter) which should return a target---either a group
14650 name or @code{delete}.
14652 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
14654 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
14657 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14658 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14659 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
14660 expire mail to groups according to the variable
14661 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
14664 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14665 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14666 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
14667 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
14668 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
14671 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
14672 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
14673 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
14674 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
14675 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
14676 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
14678 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
14679 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
14680 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
14681 easier for procmail users.
14683 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
14684 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
14685 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
14686 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
14687 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
14688 caution. Even more dangerous is the
14689 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
14690 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
14691 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
14692 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
14693 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
14694 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
14695 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
14698 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
14700 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
14701 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
14702 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
14703 auto-expire turned on.
14707 @subsection Washing Mail
14708 @cindex mail washing
14709 @cindex list server brain damage
14710 @cindex incoming mail treatment
14712 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
14713 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
14714 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
14715 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
14716 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
14717 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
14719 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
14720 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
14721 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
14724 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
14725 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
14726 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
14727 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
14730 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14731 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14732 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
14733 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
14734 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
14737 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14738 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14739 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
14740 Emacs running on MS machines.
14744 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14745 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14746 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
14747 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
14750 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14751 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14752 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
14753 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
14755 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
14756 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
14757 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
14758 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
14759 into a feature by documenting it.)
14761 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14762 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14763 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
14764 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
14765 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
14766 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
14767 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
14770 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
14771 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
14774 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
14775 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
14778 This can also be done non-destructively with
14779 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
14781 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
14782 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
14783 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
14785 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14786 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14788 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
14789 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
14790 @code{References} headers.
14794 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14795 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14796 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
14800 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
14801 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
14802 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
14809 @subsection Duplicates
14811 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
14812 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
14813 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
14814 @cindex duplicate mails
14815 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
14816 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
14817 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
14818 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
14819 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
14820 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
14821 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
14822 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
14823 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
14824 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
14825 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
14826 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
14827 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
14829 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
14830 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
14831 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
14832 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
14834 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
14837 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
14838 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
14842 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
14843 '(| ;; @r{Messages duplicates go to a separate group.}
14844 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
14845 ;; @r{Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.}
14846 (any mail "mail.misc")
14847 ;; @r{Other rules.}
14853 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14854 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
14855 ;; @r{Other rules.}
14859 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
14860 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
14861 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
14862 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
14863 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
14866 @node Not Reading Mail
14867 @subsection Not Reading Mail
14869 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
14870 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
14871 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
14873 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
14874 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
14875 mail, which should help.
14877 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14878 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14879 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14880 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14881 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14882 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
14883 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old Rmail
14884 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
14885 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
14886 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
14887 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
14889 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
14890 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
14894 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
14895 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
14897 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
14898 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
14899 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
14901 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
14902 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
14903 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
14907 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
14908 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
14909 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
14910 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
14911 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
14912 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
14913 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
14917 @node Unix Mail Box
14918 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
14920 @cindex unix mail box
14922 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14923 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14924 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
14925 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
14926 which group it belongs in.
14928 Virtual server settings:
14931 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
14932 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14933 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
14936 @item nnmbox-active-file
14937 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14938 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
14939 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
14941 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
14942 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14943 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
14944 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
14949 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
14953 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14954 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14955 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a Babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{Rmail
14956 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
14957 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
14959 Virtual server settings:
14962 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
14963 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14964 The name of the Rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
14966 @item nnbabyl-active-file
14967 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14968 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
14969 @file{~/.rmail-active}
14971 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14972 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14973 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
14979 @subsubsection Mail Spool
14981 @cindex mail @acronym{NOV} spool
14983 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
14984 format. It should be used with some caution.
14986 @vindex nnml-directory
14987 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
14988 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
14989 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
14990 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
14992 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
14995 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
14996 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
14997 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
14998 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
14999 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
15000 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
15001 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
15002 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
15004 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
15005 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
15006 @acronym{NOV} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
15007 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
15009 @cindex self contained nnml servers
15011 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
15012 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
15013 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
15014 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
15015 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
15016 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
15017 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
15018 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
15021 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
15022 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
15023 them next time it starts.
15025 Virtual server settings:
15028 @item nnml-directory
15029 @vindex nnml-directory
15030 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory. The
15031 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default value
15034 @item nnml-active-file
15035 @vindex nnml-active-file
15036 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
15037 @file{~/Mail/active}.
15039 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
15040 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
15041 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
15042 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}.
15044 @item nnml-get-new-mail
15045 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
15046 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
15049 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
15050 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
15051 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
15052 default is @code{nil}.
15054 @item nnml-nov-file-name
15055 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
15056 The name of the @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
15058 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
15059 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
15060 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
15062 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
15063 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
15064 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
15065 default is @code{nil}.
15067 @item nnml-marks-file-name
15068 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
15069 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
15071 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
15072 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
15073 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
15078 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
15079 If your @code{nnml} groups and @acronym{NOV} files get totally out of
15080 whack, you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
15081 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
15082 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
15083 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
15084 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
15089 @subsubsection MH Spool
15091 @cindex mh-e mail spool
15093 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
15094 @acronym{NOV} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks
15095 file. This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than
15096 @code{nnml}, but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts
15099 Virtual server settings:
15102 @item nnmh-directory
15103 @vindex nnmh-directory
15104 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
15105 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
15108 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
15109 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
15110 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
15114 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
15115 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
15116 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks
15117 they are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
15118 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
15119 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not
15120 have to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
15125 @subsubsection Maildir
15129 @code{nnmaildir} stores mail in the maildir format, with each maildir
15130 corresponding to a group in Gnus. This format is documented here:
15131 @uref{http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html} and here:
15132 @uref{http://www.qmail.org/man/man5/maildir.html}. @code{nnmaildir}
15133 also stores extra information in the @file{.nnmaildir/} directory
15136 Maildir format was designed to allow concurrent deliveries and
15137 reading, without needing locks. With other back ends, you would have
15138 your mail delivered to a spool of some kind, and then you would
15139 configure Gnus to split mail from that spool into your groups. You
15140 can still do that with @code{nnmaildir}, but the more common
15141 configuration is to have your mail delivered directly to the maildirs
15142 that appear as group in Gnus.
15144 @code{nnmaildir} is designed to be perfectly reliable: @kbd{C-g} will
15145 never corrupt its data in memory, and @code{SIGKILL} will never
15146 corrupt its data in the filesystem.
15148 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks and @acronym{NOV} data in each
15149 maildir. So you can copy a whole maildir from one Gnus setup to
15150 another, and you will keep your marks.
15152 Virtual server settings:
15156 For each of your @code{nnmaildir} servers (it's very unlikely that
15157 you'd need more than one), you need to create a directory and populate
15158 it with maildirs or symlinks to maildirs (and nothing else; do not
15159 choose a directory already used for other purposes). Each maildir
15160 will be represented in Gnus as a newsgroup on that server; the
15161 filename of the symlink will be the name of the group. Any filenames
15162 in the directory starting with @samp{.} are ignored. The directory is
15163 scanned when you first start Gnus, and each time you type @kbd{g} in
15164 the group buffer; if any maildirs have been removed or added,
15165 @code{nnmaildir} notices at these times.
15167 The value of the @code{directory} parameter should be a Lisp form
15168 which is processed by @code{eval} and @code{expand-file-name} to get
15169 the path of the directory for this server. The form is @code{eval}ed
15170 only when the server is opened; the resulting string is used until the
15171 server is closed. (If you don't know about forms and @code{eval},
15172 don't worry---a simple string will work.) This parameter is not
15173 optional; you must specify it. I don't recommend using
15174 @code{"~/Mail"} or a subdirectory of it; several other parts of Gnus
15175 use that directory by default for various things, and may get confused
15176 if @code{nnmaildir} uses it too. @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} is a typical
15179 @item target-prefix
15180 This should be a Lisp form which is processed by @code{eval} and
15181 @code{expand-file-name}. The form is @code{eval}ed only when the
15182 server is opened; the resulting string is used until the server is
15185 When you create a group on an @code{nnmaildir} server, the maildir is
15186 created with @code{target-prefix} prepended to its name, and a symlink
15187 pointing to that maildir is created, named with the plain group name.
15188 So if @code{directory} is @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} and
15189 @code{target-prefix} is @code{"../maildirs/"}, then when you create
15190 the group @code{foo}, @code{nnmaildir} will create
15191 @file{~/.nnmaildir/../maildirs/foo} as a maildir, and will create
15192 @file{~/.nnmaildir/foo} as a symlink pointing to
15193 @file{../maildirs/foo}.
15195 You can set @code{target-prefix} to a string without any slashes to
15196 create both maildirs and symlinks in the same @code{directory}; in
15197 this case, any maildirs found in @code{directory} whose names start
15198 with @code{target-prefix} will not be listed as groups (but the
15199 symlinks pointing to them will be).
15201 As a special case, if @code{target-prefix} is @code{""} (the default),
15202 then when you create a group, the maildir will be created in
15203 @code{directory} without a corresponding symlink. Beware that you
15204 cannot use @code{gnus-group-delete-group} on such groups without the
15205 @code{force} argument.
15207 @item directory-files
15208 This should be a function with the same interface as
15209 @code{directory-files} (such as @code{directory-files} itself). It is
15210 used to scan the server's @code{directory} for maildirs. This
15211 parameter is optional; the default is
15212 @code{nnheader-directory-files-safe} if
15213 @code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is @code{nil}, and
15214 @code{directory-files} otherwise.
15215 (@code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is checked only once when the
15216 server is opened; if you want to check it each time the directory is
15217 scanned, you'll have to provide your own function that does that.)
15220 If non-@code{nil}, then after scanning for new mail in the group
15221 maildirs themselves as usual, this server will also incorporate mail
15222 the conventional Gnus way, from @code{mail-sources} according to
15223 @code{nnmail-split-methods} or @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. The default
15224 value is @code{nil}.
15226 Do @emph{not} use the same maildir both in @code{mail-sources} and as
15227 an @code{nnmaildir} group. The results might happen to be useful, but
15228 that would be by chance, not by design, and the results might be
15229 different in the future. If your split rules create new groups,
15230 remember to supply a @code{create-directory} server parameter.
15233 @subsubsection Group parameters
15235 @code{nnmaildir} uses several group parameters. It's safe to ignore
15236 all this; the default behavior for @code{nnmaildir} is the same as the
15237 default behavior for other mail back ends: articles are deleted after
15238 one week, etc. Except for the expiry parameters, all this
15239 functionality is unique to @code{nnmaildir}, so you can ignore it if
15240 you're just trying to duplicate the behavior you already have with
15243 If the value of any of these parameters is a vector, the first element
15244 is evaluated as a Lisp form and the result is used, rather than the
15245 original value. If the value is not a vector, the value itself is
15246 evaluated as a Lisp form. (This is why these parameters use names
15247 different from those of other, similar parameters supported by other
15248 back ends: they have different, though similar, meanings.) (For
15249 numbers, strings, @code{nil}, and @code{t}, you can ignore the
15250 @code{eval} business again; for other values, remember to use an extra
15251 quote and wrap the value in a vector when appropriate.)
15255 An integer specifying the minimum age, in seconds, of an article
15256 before it will be expired, or the symbol @code{never} to specify that
15257 articles should never be expired. If this parameter is not set,
15258 @code{nnmaildir} falls back to the usual
15259 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) variables (overrideable by
15260 the @code{expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) group parameters. If you
15261 wanted a value of 3 days, you could use something like @code{[(* 3 24
15262 60 60)]}; @code{nnmaildir} will evaluate the form and use the result.
15263 An article's age is measured starting from the article file's
15264 modification time. Normally, this is the same as the article's
15265 delivery time, but editing an article makes it younger. Moving an
15266 article (other than via expiry) may also make an article younger.
15269 If this is set to a string such as a full Gnus group name, like
15271 "backend+server.address.string:group.name"
15273 and if it is not the name of the same group that the parameter belongs
15274 to, then articles will be moved to the specified group during expiry
15275 before being deleted. @emph{If this is set to an @code{nnmaildir}
15276 group, the article will be just as old in the destination group as it
15277 was in the source group.} So be careful with @code{expire-age} in the
15278 destination group. If this is set to the name of the same group that
15279 the parameter belongs to, then the article is not expired at all. If
15280 you use the vector form, the first element is evaluated once for each
15281 article. So that form can refer to
15282 @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name}, etc., to decide where to put the
15283 article. @emph{If this parameter is not set, @code{nnmaildir} does
15284 not fall back to the @code{expiry-target} group parameter or the
15285 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} variable.}
15288 If this is set to @code{t}, @code{nnmaildir} will treat the articles
15289 in this maildir as read-only. This means: articles are not renamed
15290 from @file{new/} into @file{cur/}; articles are only found in
15291 @file{new/}, not @file{cur/}; articles are never deleted; articles
15292 cannot be edited. @file{new/} is expected to be a symlink to the
15293 @file{new/} directory of another maildir---e.g., a system-wide mailbox
15294 containing a mailing list of common interest. Everything in the
15295 maildir outside @file{new/} is @emph{not} treated as read-only, so for
15296 a shared mailbox, you do still need to set up your own maildir (or
15297 have write permission to the shared mailbox); your maildir just won't
15298 contain extra copies of the articles.
15300 @item directory-files
15301 A function with the same interface as @code{directory-files}. It is
15302 used to scan the directories in the maildir corresponding to this
15303 group to find articles. The default is the function specified by the
15304 server's @code{directory-files} parameter.
15306 @item distrust-Lines:
15307 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmaildir} will always count the lines of an
15308 article, rather than use the @code{Lines:} header field. If
15309 @code{nil}, the header field will be used if present.
15312 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(read expire)]}. Whenever
15313 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
15314 say that all articles have these marks, regardless of whether the
15315 marks stored in the filesystem say so. This is a proof-of-concept
15316 feature that will probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done
15317 in Gnus proper, or abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
15320 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(tick expire)]}. Whenever
15321 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
15322 say that no articles have these marks, regardless of whether the marks
15323 stored in the filesystem say so. @code{never-marks} overrides
15324 @code{always-marks}. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will
15325 probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
15326 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
15328 @item nov-cache-size
15329 An integer specifying the size of the @acronym{NOV} memory cache. To
15330 speed things up, @code{nnmaildir} keeps @acronym{NOV} data in memory
15331 for a limited number of articles in each group. (This is probably not
15332 worthwhile, and will probably be removed in the future.) This
15333 parameter's value is noticed only the first time a group is seen after
15334 the server is opened---i.e., when you first start Gnus, typically.
15335 The @acronym{NOV} cache is never resized until the server is closed
15336 and reopened. The default is an estimate of the number of articles
15337 that would be displayed in the summary buffer: a count of articles
15338 that are either marked with @code{tick} or not marked with
15339 @code{read}, plus a little extra.
15342 @subsubsection Article identification
15343 Articles are stored in the @file{cur/} subdirectory of each maildir.
15344 Each article file is named like @code{uniq:info}, where @code{uniq}
15345 contains no colons. @code{nnmaildir} ignores, but preserves, the
15346 @code{:info} part. (Other maildir readers typically use this part of
15347 the filename to store marks.) The @code{uniq} part uniquely
15348 identifies the article, and is used in various places in the
15349 @file{.nnmaildir/} subdirectory of the maildir to store information
15350 about the corresponding article. The full pathname of an article is
15351 available in the variable @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name} after you
15352 request the article in the summary buffer.
15354 @subsubsection NOV data
15355 An article identified by @code{uniq} has its @acronym{NOV} data (used
15356 to generate lines in the summary buffer) stored in
15357 @code{.nnmaildir/nov/uniq}. There is no
15358 @code{nnmaildir-generate-nov-databases} function. (There isn't much
15359 need for it---an article's @acronym{NOV} data is updated automatically
15360 when the article or @code{nnmail-extra-headers} has changed.) You can
15361 force @code{nnmaildir} to regenerate the @acronym{NOV} data for a
15362 single article simply by deleting the corresponding @acronym{NOV}
15363 file, but @emph{beware}: this will also cause @code{nnmaildir} to
15364 assign a new article number for this article, which may cause trouble
15365 with @code{seen} marks, the Agent, and the cache.
15367 @subsubsection Article marks
15368 An article identified by @code{uniq} is considered to have the mark
15369 @code{flag} when the file @file{.nnmaildir/marks/flag/uniq} exists.
15370 When Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for a group's marks, @code{nnmaildir}
15371 looks for such files and reports the set of marks it finds. When Gnus
15372 asks @code{nnmaildir} to store a new set of marks, @code{nnmaildir}
15373 creates and deletes the corresponding files as needed. (Actually,
15374 rather than create a new file for each mark, it just creates hard
15375 links to @file{.nnmaildir/markfile}, to save inodes.)
15377 You can invent new marks by creating a new directory in
15378 @file{.nnmaildir/marks/}. You can tar up a maildir and remove it from
15379 your server, untar it later, and keep your marks. You can add and
15380 remove marks yourself by creating and deleting mark files. If you do
15381 this while Gnus is running and your @code{nnmaildir} server is open,
15382 it's best to exit all summary buffers for @code{nnmaildir} groups and
15383 type @kbd{s} in the group buffer first, and to type @kbd{g} or
15384 @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer afterwards. Otherwise, Gnus might not
15385 pick up the changes, and might undo them.
15389 @subsubsection Mail Folders
15391 @cindex mbox folders
15392 @cindex mail folders
15394 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a
15395 separate file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format.
15396 @code{nnfolder} will add extra headers to keep track of article
15397 numbers and arrival dates.
15399 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
15401 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
15402 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
15403 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
15404 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
15405 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
15406 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
15407 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder}
15408 directory. Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to
15409 backup, use @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup
15410 into the @code{nnfolder} directory).
15412 Virtual server settings:
15415 @item nnfolder-directory
15416 @vindex nnfolder-directory
15417 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this
15418 directory. The default is the value of @code{message-directory}
15419 (whose default is @file{~/Mail})
15421 @item nnfolder-active-file
15422 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
15423 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
15425 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
15426 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
15427 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
15428 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}
15430 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
15431 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
15432 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The
15433 default is @code{t}
15435 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
15436 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
15437 @cindex backup files
15438 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
15439 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If
15440 you wish to switch this off, you could say something like the
15441 following in your @file{.emacs} file:
15444 (defun turn-off-backup ()
15445 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
15447 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
15450 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
15451 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
15452 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
15453 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
15454 extract some information from it before removing it.
15456 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
15457 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
15458 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
15459 default is @code{nil}.
15461 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
15462 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
15463 The extension for @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
15465 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
15466 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
15467 The directory where the @acronym{NOV} files should be stored. If
15468 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
15470 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
15471 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
15472 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
15473 default is @code{nil}.
15475 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
15476 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
15477 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
15479 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
15480 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
15481 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If
15482 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
15487 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
15488 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
15489 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
15490 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
15491 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
15492 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
15495 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
15496 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
15498 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
15499 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
15500 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
15501 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
15502 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
15504 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
15505 typically done by @acronym{NNTP} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
15506 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
15507 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @acronym{NNTP} server), and
15508 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
15509 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
15510 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
15511 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
15514 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
15515 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
15516 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
15517 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
15522 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
15523 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
15524 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
15525 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
15526 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
15527 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
15528 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
15529 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
15530 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
15531 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
15532 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
15533 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
15534 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
15539 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
15540 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
15541 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
15542 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
15543 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
15544 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
15545 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
15546 Rmail was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
15547 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote Rmail
15548 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
15549 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
15550 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
15551 headers/status bits stuff. Rmail itself still exists as well, of
15552 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
15554 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
15555 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
15560 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
15561 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
15562 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
15563 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
15564 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
15565 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
15566 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
15567 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
15568 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
15569 @acronym{NNTP} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
15570 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
15571 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
15572 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
15573 provided by the active file and overviews.
15575 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
15576 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
15577 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
15578 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
15579 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
15582 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
15583 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
15588 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
15589 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
15590 individual files, but with little or no indexing support---@code{nnmh}
15591 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
15592 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
15593 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
15594 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
15598 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
15599 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
15600 itself puts @emph{all} one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
15601 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
15602 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
15603 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
15604 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
15605 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
15606 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
15608 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
15609 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
15610 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
15611 friendly mail back end all over.
15615 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses
15616 incompatible group parameters, slightly different from those of other
15619 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
15620 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
15621 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
15622 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
15623 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
15624 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
15625 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to
15626 @uref{http://www.namesys.com/, ReiserFS} or another non-block-structured
15629 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
15630 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
15631 This means you can skip Gnus' mail splitting if your mail is already
15632 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
15633 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
15634 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
15635 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
15636 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
15637 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
15638 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will not
15639 undergo treatment such as duplicate checking.
15641 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
15642 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
15643 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
15644 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
15645 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
15648 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
15649 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
15650 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
15651 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
15652 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
15653 would) to make it use less memory. This caching will probably be
15654 removed in the future.
15656 Startup is likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than with other
15657 back ends. Everything else is likely to be faster, depending in part
15658 on your file system.
15660 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
15661 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
15666 @node Browsing the Web
15667 @section Browsing the Web
15669 @cindex browsing the web
15673 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
15674 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
15675 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
15676 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
15677 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
15678 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
15679 even know what a news group is.
15681 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
15682 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
15683 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
15684 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
15685 you mad in the end.
15687 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
15690 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
15691 interfaces to these sources.
15695 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
15696 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
15697 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
15698 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
15699 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
15700 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
15703 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
15705 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
15706 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @acronym{HTML} data
15707 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
15708 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
15709 though, you should be ok.
15711 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
15712 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
15713 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
15714 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
15715 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
15717 @node Archiving Mail
15718 @subsection Archiving Mail
15719 @cindex archiving mail
15720 @cindex backup of mail
15722 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
15723 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
15724 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
15725 marks is fairly simple.
15727 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
15728 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
15731 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
15732 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
15733 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
15734 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
15735 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
15736 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
15737 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
15738 before you restore the data.
15740 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
15741 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
15742 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
15743 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
15744 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
15745 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
15746 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
15747 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
15748 is unnecessary in that case.
15751 @subsection Web Searches
15756 @cindex Usenet searches
15757 @cindex searching the Usenet
15759 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
15760 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
15761 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
15762 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
15763 searches without having to use a browser.
15765 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
15766 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
15767 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
15768 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
15769 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
15771 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
15772 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
15773 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
15774 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
15775 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
15776 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
15777 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
15778 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
15779 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
15780 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
15783 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
15784 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
15785 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'@^etre} is to
15786 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
15787 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
15788 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
15790 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
15791 to use @code{nnweb}.
15793 Virtual server variables:
15798 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
15799 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
15800 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
15803 @vindex nnweb-search
15804 The search string to feed to the search engine.
15806 @item nnweb-max-hits
15807 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
15808 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
15811 @item nnweb-type-definition
15812 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
15813 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
15814 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
15819 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
15823 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
15826 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
15829 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
15833 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
15840 @subsection Slashdot
15844 @uref{http://slashdot.org/, Slashdot} is a popular news site, with
15845 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
15846 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
15848 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
15849 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
15852 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15853 '((nnslashdot "")))
15856 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
15857 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
15858 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
15859 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
15860 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
15863 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
15864 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
15866 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
15867 comments), some light @acronym{HTML}izations will be performed. In
15868 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
15869 @samp{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @samp{br} added to
15870 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @acronym{HTML}
15871 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
15872 @acronym{HTML} forms.
15874 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
15877 @item nnslashdot-threaded
15878 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
15879 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
15880 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
15881 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
15882 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
15883 but much, much slower than unthreaded.
15885 @item nnslashdot-login-name
15886 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
15887 The login name to use when posting.
15889 @item nnslashdot-password
15890 @vindex nnslashdot-password
15891 The password to use when posting.
15893 @item nnslashdot-directory
15894 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
15895 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
15896 @file{~/News/slashdot/}.
15898 @item nnslashdot-active-url
15899 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
15900 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch the
15901 information on news articles and comments. The default is@*
15902 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
15904 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
15905 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
15906 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch comments.
15908 @item nnslashdot-article-url
15909 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
15910 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch the news
15911 article. The default is
15912 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
15914 @item nnslashdot-threshold
15915 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
15916 The score threshold. The default is -1.
15918 @item nnslashdot-group-number
15919 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
15920 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
15921 updated. The default is 0.
15928 @subsection Ultimate
15930 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
15932 @uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/, The Ultimate Bulletin Board} is
15933 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
15934 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
15935 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
15937 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
15938 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
15939 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @acronym{URL}
15940 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
15941 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
15942 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
15943 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
15945 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
15948 @item nnultimate-directory
15949 @vindex nnultimate-directory
15950 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is@*
15951 @file{~/News/ultimate/}.
15956 @subsection Web Archive
15958 @cindex Web Archive
15960 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
15961 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
15962 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
15963 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
15966 @findex gnus-group-make-warchive-group
15967 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
15968 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
15969 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET @var{an_egroup} RET egroups RET
15970 www.egroups.com RET @var{your@@email.address} RET}. (Substitute the
15971 @var{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
15972 @var{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
15973 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
15975 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
15978 @item nnwarchive-directory
15979 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
15980 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is@*
15981 @file{~/News/warchive/}.
15983 @item nnwarchive-login
15984 @vindex nnwarchive-login
15985 The account name on the web server.
15987 @item nnwarchive-passwd
15988 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
15989 The password for your account on the web server.
15997 Some web sites have an RDF Site Summary (@acronym{RSS}).
15998 @acronym{RSS} is a format for summarizing headlines from news related
15999 sites (such as BBC or CNN). But basically anything list-like can be
16000 presented as an @acronym{RSS} feed: weblogs, changelogs or recent
16001 changes to a wiki (e.g. @url{http://cliki.net/recent-changes.rdf}).
16003 @acronym{RSS} has a quite regular and nice interface, and it's
16004 possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
16006 Note: you had better use Emacs which supports the @code{utf-8} coding
16007 system because @acronym{RSS} uses UTF-8 for encoding non-@acronym{ASCII}
16008 text by default. It is also used by default for non-@acronym{ASCII}
16011 @kindex G R (Summary)
16012 Use @kbd{G R} from the summary buffer to subscribe to a feed---you will
16013 be prompted for the location, the title and the description of the feed.
16014 The title, which allows any characters, will be used for the group name
16015 and the name of the group data file. The description can be omitted.
16017 An easy way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something like
16018 the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET y}, then
16019 subscribe to groups.
16021 The @code{nnrss} back end saves the group data file in
16022 @code{nnrss-directory} (see below) for each @code{nnrss} group. File
16023 names containing non-@acronym{ASCII} characters will be encoded by the
16024 coding system specified with the @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system}
16025 variable. If it is @code{nil}, in Emacs the coding system defaults to
16026 the value of @code{default-file-name-coding-system}. If you are using
16027 XEmacs and want to use non-@acronym{ASCII} group names, you should set
16028 the value for the @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system} variable properly.
16031 You can also use the following commands to import and export your
16032 subscriptions from a file in @acronym{OPML} format (Outline Processor
16035 @defun nnrss-opml-import file
16036 Prompt for an @acronym{OPML} file, and subscribe to each feed in the
16040 @defun nnrss-opml-export
16041 Write your current @acronym{RSS} subscriptions to a buffer in
16042 @acronym{OPML} format.
16045 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
16048 @item nnrss-directory
16049 @vindex nnrss-directory
16050 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
16051 @file{~/News/rss/}.
16053 @item nnrss-file-coding-system
16054 @vindex nnrss-file-coding-system
16055 The coding system used when reading and writing the @code{nnrss} groups
16056 data files. The default is the value of
16057 @code{mm-universal-coding-system} (which defaults to @code{emacs-mule}
16058 in Emacs or @code{escape-quoted} in XEmacs).
16060 @item nnrss-use-local
16061 @vindex nnrss-use-local
16062 @findex nnrss-generate-download-script
16063 If you set @code{nnrss-use-local} to @code{t}, @code{nnrss} will read
16064 the feeds from local files in @code{nnrss-directory}. You can use
16065 the command @code{nnrss-generate-download-script} to generate a
16066 download script using @command{wget}.
16069 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
16070 the summary buffer.
16073 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
16074 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
16076 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
16078 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
16079 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
16082 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
16085 (require 'browse-url)
16087 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
16089 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
16092 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
16093 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
16096 (browse-url (cdr url))
16097 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
16098 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
16100 (eval-after-load "gnus"
16101 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
16102 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
16103 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
16106 @node Customizing w3
16107 @subsection Customizing w3
16113 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
16114 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
16115 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
16117 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
16118 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
16119 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
16122 (eval-after-load "w3"
16124 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
16125 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
16126 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
16127 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
16129 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
16132 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
16133 @acronym{HTML} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
16140 @cindex @acronym{IMAP}
16142 @acronym{IMAP} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or @dots{}),
16143 think of it as a modernized @acronym{NNTP}. Connecting to a @acronym{IMAP}
16144 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
16145 specify the network address of the server.
16147 @acronym{IMAP} has two properties. First, @acronym{IMAP} can do
16148 everything that @acronym{POP} can, it can hence be viewed as a
16149 @acronym{POP++}. Secondly, @acronym{IMAP} is a mail storage protocol,
16150 similar to @acronym{NNTP} being a news storage protocol---however,
16151 @acronym{IMAP} offers more features than @acronym{NNTP} because news
16152 is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
16154 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a @acronym{POP++}, use an imap
16155 entry in @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from
16156 the @acronym{IMAP} server and store them on the local disk. This is
16157 not the usage described in this section---@xref{Mail Sources}.
16159 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
16160 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
16161 manipulate mails stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server. This is the kind of
16162 usage explained in this section.
16164 A server configuration in @file{~/.gnus.el} with a few @acronym{IMAP}
16165 servers might look something like the following. (Note that for
16166 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you need external programs and libraries,
16170 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
16171 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; @r{no special configuration}
16172 ; @r{perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:}
16174 (nnimap-address "localhost")
16175 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
16176 ; @r{a UW server running on localhost}
16178 (nnimap-server-port 143)
16179 (nnimap-address "localhost")
16180 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
16181 ; @r{anonymous public cyrus server:}
16182 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
16183 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
16184 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
16185 (nnimap-stream network))
16186 ; @r{a ssl server on a non-standard port:}
16188 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
16189 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
16190 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
16193 After defining the new server, you can subscribe to groups on the
16194 server using normal Gnus commands such as @kbd{U} in the Group Buffer
16195 (@pxref{Subscription Commands}) or via the Server Buffer
16196 (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
16198 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
16203 @item nnimap-address
16204 @vindex nnimap-address
16206 The address of the remote @acronym{IMAP} server. Defaults to the virtual
16207 server name if not specified.
16209 @item nnimap-server-port
16210 @vindex nnimap-server-port
16211 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}.
16213 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
16216 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
16217 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
16220 @item nnimap-list-pattern
16221 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
16222 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
16223 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
16224 interested in a few---some servers export your home directory via
16225 @acronym{IMAP}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
16226 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
16228 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
16229 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
16230 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
16233 Example server specification:
16236 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
16237 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
16238 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
16241 @item nnimap-stream
16242 @vindex nnimap-stream
16243 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
16244 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
16245 of @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}. (@acronym{IMAP} over
16246 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is being replaced by STARTTLS, which can
16247 be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
16249 Example server specification:
16252 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
16253 (nnimap-stream ssl))
16256 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
16260 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
16261 @samp{gsasl} or @samp{imtest} program.
16263 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
16265 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
16266 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
16269 @dfn{tls:} Connect through @acronym{TLS}. Requires GNUTLS (the program
16270 @samp{gnutls-cli}).
16272 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through @acronym{SSL}. Requires OpenSSL (the program
16273 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
16275 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @acronym{IMAP} connection.
16277 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
16280 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
16281 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
16282 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
16283 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
16284 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
16285 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
16286 restrictions on @acronym{IMAP} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
16287 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
16288 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
16291 For @acronym{TLS} connection, the @code{gnutls-cli} program from GNUTLS is
16292 needed. It is available from
16293 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/}.
16295 @vindex imap-gssapi-program
16296 This parameter specifies a list of command lines that invoke a GSSAPI
16297 authenticated @acronym{IMAP} stream in a subshell. They are tried
16298 sequentially until a connection is made, or the list has been
16299 exhausted. By default, @samp{gsasl} from GNU SASL, available from
16300 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gsasl/}, and the @samp{imtest}
16301 program from Cyrus IMAPD (see @code{imap-kerberos4-program}), are
16304 @vindex imap-ssl-program
16305 For @acronym{SSL} connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
16306 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
16307 and nnimap support it too---although the most recent versions of
16308 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
16309 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
16310 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
16313 @vindex imap-shell-program
16314 @vindex imap-shell-host
16315 For @acronym{IMAP} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
16316 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
16318 @item nnimap-authenticator
16319 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
16321 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
16322 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
16324 Example server specification:
16327 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
16328 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
16331 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
16335 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
16336 external program @code{gsasl} or @code{imtest}.
16338 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
16341 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
16342 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
16344 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
16346 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
16348 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as ``anonymous'', supplying your email address as password.
16351 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
16353 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
16354 Unlike Parmenides the @acronym{IMAP} designers have decided things that
16355 don't exist actually do exist. More specifically, @acronym{IMAP} has
16356 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
16357 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
16358 nnimap does when you delete an article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
16361 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
16362 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
16363 running in circles yet?
16365 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
16366 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
16369 The possible options are:
16374 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as ``Deleted'' when
16377 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
16378 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @acronym{IMAP} clients
16379 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
16380 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
16382 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
16387 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
16388 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
16390 If non-@code{nil} (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as
16391 well), for other @acronym{IMAP} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
16392 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
16393 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @acronym{IMAP}
16394 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @acronym{IMAP}
16397 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
16398 enable per-user persistent dormant flags, using something like:
16401 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
16402 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
16403 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
16404 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
16407 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
16408 as ticked for other users.
16410 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
16412 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
16414 This variable contain the @acronym{IMAP} search command sent to server when
16415 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
16416 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
16417 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
16419 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
16420 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
16421 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
16422 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
16424 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
16425 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
16427 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
16428 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
16429 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
16430 @ref{NNTP}. An example of an .authinfo line for an IMAP server, is:
16433 machine students.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis port imap
16436 Note that it should be @code{port imap}, or @code{port 143}, if you
16437 use a @code{nnimap-stream} of @code{tls} or @code{ssl}, even if the
16438 actual port number used is port 993 for secured IMAP. For
16439 convenience, Gnus will accept @code{port imaps} as a synonym of
16442 @item nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
16443 @vindex nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
16445 Unselect mailboxes before looking for new mail in them. Some servers
16446 seem to need this under some circumstances; it was reported that
16452 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
16453 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
16454 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
16455 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
16456 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
16457 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
16462 @node Splitting in IMAP
16463 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
16464 @cindex splitting imap mail
16466 Splitting is something Gnus users have loved and used for years, and now
16467 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
16468 @acronym{IMAP} servers have server side splitting and those that have
16469 splitting seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that
16470 @acronym{IMAP} support for Gnus has to do its own splitting.
16474 (Incidentally, people seem to have been dreaming on, and Sieve has
16475 gaining a market share and is supported by several IMAP servers.
16476 Fortunately, Gnus support it too, @xref{Sieve Commands}.)
16478 Here are the variables of interest:
16482 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
16483 @cindex splitting, crosspost
16485 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
16487 If non-@code{nil}, do crossposting if several split methods match the
16488 mail. If @code{nil}, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule}
16489 found will be used.
16491 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
16493 @item nnimap-split-inbox
16494 @cindex splitting, inbox
16496 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
16498 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @acronym{IMAP}
16499 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to @code{nil}, which means that
16500 splitting is disabled!
16503 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
16504 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
16507 No nnmail equivalent.
16509 @item nnimap-split-rule
16510 @cindex splitting, rules
16511 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
16513 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
16516 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
16517 sublist gives the name of the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox to move articles
16518 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
16519 Neither did I, we need examples.
16522 (setq nnimap-split-rule
16524 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
16525 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
16526 ("INBOX.private" "")))
16529 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
16530 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
16531 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
16533 The first string may contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by
16534 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
16538 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
16541 The first element can also be the symbol @code{junk} to indicate that
16542 matching messages should simply be deleted. Use with care.
16544 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
16545 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
16546 containing the headers of the article. It should return a
16547 non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
16549 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
16550 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
16551 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
16552 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
16553 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
16554 them every time you fetch new mail.)
16556 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
16557 end. The first rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have
16558 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.
16560 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
16561 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
16562 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
16564 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
16566 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
16567 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
16568 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
16571 (setq nnimap-split-rule
16572 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
16573 ("junk" "From:.*Simon"))))
16574 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
16575 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
16576 ("junk" my-junk-func))))))
16579 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
16580 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
16581 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
16582 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
16583 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
16584 group/function elements.
16586 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
16588 @item nnimap-split-predicate
16590 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
16592 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
16593 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
16595 This might be useful if you use another @acronym{IMAP} client to read mail in
16596 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
16597 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
16600 @item nnimap-split-fancy
16601 @cindex splitting, fancy
16602 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
16603 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
16605 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
16606 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
16607 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
16609 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
16610 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
16611 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
16612 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
16617 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
16618 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
16621 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
16623 @item nnimap-split-download-body
16624 @findex nnimap-split-download-body
16625 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
16627 Set to non-@code{nil} to download entire articles during splitting.
16628 This is generally not required, and will slow things down
16629 considerably. You may need it if you want to use an advanced
16630 splitting function that analyses the body to split the article.
16634 @node Expiring in IMAP
16635 @subsection Expiring in IMAP
16636 @cindex expiring imap mail
16638 Even though @code{nnimap} is not a proper @code{nnmail} derived back
16639 end, it supports most features in regular expiring (@pxref{Expiring
16640 Mail}). Unlike splitting in @acronym{IMAP} (@pxref{Splitting in
16641 IMAP}) it does not clone the @code{nnmail} variables (i.e., creating
16642 @var{nnimap-expiry-wait}) but reuse the @code{nnmail} variables. What
16643 follows below are the variables used by the @code{nnimap} expiry
16646 A note on how the expire mark is stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server is
16647 appropriate here as well. The expire mark is translated into a
16648 @code{imap} client specific mark, @code{gnus-expire}, and stored on the
16649 message. This means that likely only Gnus will understand and treat
16650 the @code{gnus-expire} mark properly, although other clients may allow
16651 you to view client specific flags on the message. It also means that
16652 your server must support permanent storage of client specific flags on
16653 messages. Most do, fortunately.
16657 @item nnmail-expiry-wait
16658 @item nnmail-expiry-wait-function
16660 These variables are fully supported. The expire value can be a
16661 number, the symbol @code{immediate} or @code{never}.
16663 @item nnmail-expiry-target
16665 This variable is supported, and internally implemented by calling the
16666 @code{nnmail} functions that handle this. It contains an optimization
16667 that if the destination is a @acronym{IMAP} group on the same server, the
16668 article is copied instead of appended (that is, uploaded again).
16672 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
16673 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
16674 @cindex editing imap acls
16675 @cindex Access Control Lists
16676 @cindex Editing @acronym{IMAP} ACLs
16677 @kindex G l (Group)
16678 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
16680 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @acronym{IMAP} for
16681 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
16682 @acronym{IMAP} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
16685 To edit an ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
16686 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with an ACL
16687 editing window with detailed instructions.
16689 Some possible uses:
16693 Giving ``anyone'' the ``lrs'' rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
16694 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
16695 follow the list without subscribing to it.
16697 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
16698 ``anyone'' posting ("p") capabilities to have ``plussing'' work (that is,
16699 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox
16703 @node Expunging mailboxes
16704 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
16708 @cindex manual expunging
16709 @kindex G x (Group)
16710 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
16712 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
16713 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
16714 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
16716 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
16719 @node A note on namespaces
16720 @subsection A note on namespaces
16721 @cindex IMAP namespace
16724 The @acronym{IMAP} protocol has a concept called namespaces, described
16725 by the following text in the RFC:
16728 5.1.2. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention
16730 By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
16731 which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
16732 the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
16733 types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
16735 For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
16736 newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the USENET
16737 newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes. Thus, the
16738 comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have an mailbox name of
16739 "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name "comp.mail.misc" could refer
16740 to a different object (e.g. a user's private mailbox).
16743 While there is nothing in this text that warrants concern for the
16744 @acronym{IMAP} implementation in Gnus, some servers use namespace
16745 prefixes in a way that does not work with how Gnus uses mailbox names.
16747 Specifically, University of Washington's @acronym{IMAP} server uses
16748 mailbox names like @code{#driver.mbx/read-mail} which are valid only
16749 in the @sc{create} and @sc{append} commands. After the mailbox is
16750 created (or a messages is appended to a mailbox), it must be accessed
16751 without the namespace prefix, i.e. @code{read-mail}. Since Gnus do
16752 not make it possible for the user to guarantee that user entered
16753 mailbox names will only be used with the CREATE and APPEND commands,
16754 you should simply not use the namespace prefixed mailbox names in
16757 See the UoW IMAPD documentation for the @code{#driver.*/} prefix
16758 for more information on how to use the prefixes. They are a power
16759 tool and should be used only if you are sure what the effects are.
16761 @node Debugging IMAP
16762 @subsection Debugging IMAP
16763 @cindex IMAP debugging
16764 @cindex protocol dump (IMAP)
16766 @acronym{IMAP} is a complex protocol, more so than @acronym{NNTP} or
16767 @acronym{POP3}. Implementation bugs are not unlikely, and we do our
16768 best to fix them right away. If you encounter odd behaviour, chances
16769 are that either the server or Gnus is buggy.
16771 If you are familiar with network protocols in general, you will
16772 probably be able to extract some clues from the protocol dump of the
16773 exchanges between Gnus and the server. Even if you are not familiar
16774 with network protocols, when you include the protocol dump in
16775 @acronym{IMAP}-related bug reports you are helping us with data
16776 critical to solving the problem. Therefore, we strongly encourage you
16777 to include the protocol dump when reporting IMAP bugs in Gnus.
16781 Because the protocol dump, when enabled, generates lots of data, it is
16782 disabled by default. You can enable it by setting @code{imap-log} as
16789 This instructs the @code{imap.el} package to log any exchanges with
16790 the server. The log is stored in the buffer @samp{*imap-log*}. Look
16791 for error messages, which sometimes are tagged with the keyword
16792 @code{BAD}---but when submitting a bug, make sure to include all the
16795 @node Other Sources
16796 @section Other Sources
16798 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
16799 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
16803 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
16804 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
16805 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
16806 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
16807 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
16811 @node Directory Groups
16812 @subsection Directory Groups
16814 @cindex directory groups
16816 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
16817 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
16820 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
16821 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
16822 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
16823 back end to read directories. Big deal.
16825 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
16826 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
16827 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
16828 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
16829 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
16831 @code{nndir} will use @acronym{NOV} files if they are present.
16833 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
16834 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
16835 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
16836 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
16839 @node Anything Groups
16840 @subsection Anything Groups
16843 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
16844 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
16845 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
16848 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
16849 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
16850 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
16851 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
16852 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
16853 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
16854 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
16855 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
16856 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
16857 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
16860 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
16861 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
16862 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
16863 in the article buffer, just as usual.
16865 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
16866 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
16867 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
16868 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
16870 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
16871 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
16872 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
16873 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
16874 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
16875 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
16876 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
16877 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
16882 @item nneething-map-file-directory
16883 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
16884 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
16885 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
16887 @item nneething-exclude-files
16888 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
16889 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
16890 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
16892 @item nneething-include-files
16893 @vindex nneething-include-files
16894 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
16895 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
16897 @item nneething-map-file
16898 @vindex nneething-map-file
16899 Name of the map files.
16903 @node Document Groups
16904 @subsection Document Groups
16906 @cindex documentation group
16909 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
16910 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
16917 The Babyl (Rmail) mail box.
16922 The standard Unix mbox file.
16924 @cindex MMDF mail box
16926 The MMDF mail box format.
16929 Several news articles appended into a file.
16932 @cindex rnews batch files
16933 The rnews batch transport format.
16934 @cindex forwarded messages
16937 Forwarded articles.
16940 Netscape mail boxes.
16943 @acronym{MIME} multipart messages.
16945 @item standard-digest
16946 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
16949 A @acronym{MIME} digest of messages.
16951 @item lanl-gov-announce
16952 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
16954 @item rfc822-forward
16955 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
16958 The Outlook mail box.
16961 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
16964 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
16967 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
16970 An RFC934-forwarded message.
16976 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
16979 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
16985 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
16986 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
16987 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
16990 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
16991 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
16992 group. And that's it.
16994 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
16995 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
16996 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
16997 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
16998 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
16999 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
17000 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
17001 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
17002 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
17003 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
17005 Virtual server variables:
17008 @item nndoc-article-type
17009 @vindex nndoc-article-type
17010 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
17011 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
17012 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
17013 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
17014 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
17016 @item nndoc-post-type
17017 @vindex nndoc-post-type
17018 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
17019 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
17024 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
17028 @node Document Server Internals
17029 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
17031 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
17032 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
17033 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
17034 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
17036 First, here's an example document type definition:
17040 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
17041 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
17044 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
17045 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
17046 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
17047 types can be defined with very few settings:
17050 @item first-article
17051 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
17052 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
17055 @item article-begin
17056 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
17057 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
17059 @item head-begin-function
17060 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
17063 @item nndoc-head-begin
17064 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
17067 @item nndoc-head-end
17068 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
17069 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
17071 @item body-begin-function
17072 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
17076 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
17079 @item body-end-function
17080 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
17084 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
17087 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
17088 regexp will be totally ignored.
17092 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
17093 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
17094 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
17095 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
17096 something that's palatable for Gnus:
17099 @item prepare-body-function
17100 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
17101 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
17102 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
17104 @item article-transform-function
17105 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
17106 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
17107 body of the article.
17109 @item generate-head-function
17110 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
17111 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
17112 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
17113 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
17117 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
17122 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
17123 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
17124 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
17125 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
17126 (head-end . "^ ?$")
17127 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
17128 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
17129 (subtype digest guess))
17132 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
17133 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
17134 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
17135 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
17136 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
17138 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
17139 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first
17140 is the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says
17141 where in the document type definition alist to put this definition.
17142 The alist is traversed sequentially, and
17143 @code{nndoc-@var{type}-type-p} is called for a given type @var{type}.
17144 So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document is of
17145 @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
17146 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it
17147 is of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
17148 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number
17149 means low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
17157 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
17158 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
17159 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
17161 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
17162 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
17163 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
17166 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
17167 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
17168 that interested in doing things properly.
17170 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
17171 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
17174 First some terminology:
17179 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
17180 get news and/or mail from.
17183 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
17184 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
17187 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
17191 @item message packets
17192 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
17193 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
17194 default, where @var{x} is a number.
17196 @item response packets
17197 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
17198 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
17199 default, where @var{x} is a number.
17209 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
17210 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
17211 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
17212 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
17215 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
17218 You put the packet in your home directory.
17221 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
17222 the native or secondary server.
17225 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
17226 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
17229 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
17233 You transfer this packet to the server.
17236 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
17239 You then repeat until you die.
17243 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
17244 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
17247 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
17248 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
17249 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
17253 @node SOUP Commands
17254 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
17256 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
17260 @kindex G s b (Group)
17261 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
17262 Pack all unread articles in the current group
17263 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
17264 process/prefix convention.
17267 @kindex G s w (Group)
17268 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
17269 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
17272 @kindex G s s (Group)
17273 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
17274 Send all replies from the replies packet
17275 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
17278 @kindex G s p (Group)
17279 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
17280 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
17283 @kindex G s r (Group)
17284 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
17285 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
17288 @kindex O s (Summary)
17289 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
17290 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
17291 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
17292 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17297 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
17302 @item gnus-soup-directory
17303 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
17304 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
17305 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
17307 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
17308 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
17309 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
17310 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
17312 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
17313 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
17314 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
17315 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
17317 @item gnus-soup-packer
17318 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
17319 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
17320 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
17322 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
17323 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
17324 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
17325 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
17327 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
17328 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
17329 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
17331 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
17332 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
17333 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
17334 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
17340 @subsubsection SOUP Groups
17343 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
17344 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
17345 you can read them at leisure.
17347 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
17351 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
17352 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
17353 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
17354 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
17356 @item nnsoup-directory
17357 @vindex nnsoup-directory
17358 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
17359 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
17361 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
17362 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
17363 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
17364 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/}.
17366 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
17367 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
17368 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
17369 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
17370 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
17372 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
17373 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
17374 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
17375 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
17377 @item nnsoup-active-file
17378 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
17379 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
17380 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
17381 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
17382 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
17384 @item nnsoup-packer
17385 @vindex nnsoup-packer
17386 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
17387 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
17389 @item nnsoup-unpacker
17390 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
17391 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
17392 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
17394 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
17395 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
17396 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
17399 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
17400 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
17401 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
17404 @item nnsoup-always-save
17405 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
17406 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
17412 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
17414 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
17415 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
17416 more for that to happen.
17418 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
17419 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
17420 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
17423 In specific, this is what it does:
17426 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
17427 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
17430 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
17431 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
17432 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
17435 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
17436 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
17437 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
17440 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
17441 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
17442 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
17444 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
17450 @item nngateway-address
17451 @vindex nngateway-address
17452 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
17454 @item nngateway-header-transformation
17455 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
17456 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
17457 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
17458 transformation should be called, and defaults to
17459 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
17460 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
17463 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
17464 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
17465 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
17468 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
17471 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
17474 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
17477 The following pre-defined functions exist:
17479 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17482 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17483 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17484 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
17486 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17488 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17489 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17490 @code{nngateway-address}.
17498 (setq gnus-post-method
17500 "mail2news@@replay.com"
17501 (nngateway-header-transformation
17502 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
17505 So, to use this, simply say something like:
17508 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
17513 @node Combined Groups
17514 @section Combined Groups
17516 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
17520 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
17521 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
17525 @node Virtual Groups
17526 @subsection Virtual Groups
17528 @cindex virtual groups
17529 @cindex merging groups
17531 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
17534 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
17535 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
17536 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
17538 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
17539 regexp to match component groups.
17541 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
17542 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
17543 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
17544 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
17545 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
17546 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
17547 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
17548 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
17550 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
17551 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
17554 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
17557 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
17558 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
17560 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
17561 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
17562 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
17563 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
17566 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
17569 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
17570 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
17571 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
17573 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
17574 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
17575 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
17576 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
17577 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
17579 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
17580 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
17581 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
17583 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
17584 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
17585 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
17586 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
17587 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
17588 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
17589 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
17590 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
17591 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
17592 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
17593 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
17595 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
17596 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
17597 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
17598 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
17599 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
17600 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
17601 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
17603 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
17604 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
17606 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
17607 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
17611 @node Kibozed Groups
17612 @subsection Kibozed Groups
17616 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by the @acronym{OED} as ``grepping through
17617 (parts of) the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will
17618 do this for you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @acronym{NNTP} server
17619 down to a halt with useless requests! Oh happiness!
17621 @kindex G k (Group)
17622 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
17625 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
17626 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
17627 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between
17628 @code{nnkiboze} and @code{nnvirtual} end.
17630 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an
17631 @code{nnkiboze} group must have a score file to say what articles are
17632 to be included in the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
17634 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
17635 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
17636 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
17637 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time.
17638 Lots of time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the
17639 headers from all the articles in all the component groups and run them
17640 through the scoring process to determine if there are any articles in
17641 the groups that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
17643 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
17644 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
17645 @acronym{NNTP} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
17646 Stranger things have happened.
17648 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
17649 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
17651 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
17652 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
17653 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/kiboze/} by default.
17654 One contains the @acronym{NOV} header lines for all the articles in
17655 the group, and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store
17656 information on what groups have been searched through to find
17657 component articles.
17659 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
17660 their @acronym{NOV} lines removed from the @acronym{NOV} file.
17663 @node Gnus Unplugged
17664 @section Gnus Unplugged
17669 @cindex Gnus unplugged
17671 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
17672 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
17673 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
17674 read news. Believe it or not.
17676 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
17677 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
17678 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
17679 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
17680 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
17682 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
17683 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
17684 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
17685 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
17686 reading news on a machine.
17688 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
17689 fact, you don't have to configure anything as the agent is now enabled
17690 by default (@pxref{Agent Variables, gnus-agent}).
17692 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
17695 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
17696 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
17697 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
17698 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
17699 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
17700 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
17701 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
17702 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
17703 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
17704 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
17705 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
17706 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
17707 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
17712 @subsection Agent Basics
17714 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
17716 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
17717 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
17718 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
17719 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
17721 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
17722 connected to the net continuously.
17724 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
17725 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
17727 You know that Gnus gives you all the opportunity you'd ever want for
17728 shooting yourself in the foot. Some people call it flexibility. Gnus
17729 is also customizable to a great extent, which means that the user has a
17730 say on how Gnus behaves. Other newsreaders might unconditionally shoot
17731 you in your foot, but with Gnus, you have a choice!
17733 Gnus is never really in plugged or unplugged state. Rather, it applies
17734 that state to each server individually. This means that some servers
17735 can be plugged while others can be unplugged. Additionally, some
17736 servers can be ignored by the Agent altogether (which means that
17737 they're kinda like plugged always).
17739 So when you unplug the Agent and then wonder why is Gnus opening a
17740 connection to the Net, the next step to do is to look whether all
17741 servers are agentized. If there is an unagentized server, you found
17744 Another thing is the @dfn{offline} state. Sometimes, servers aren't
17745 reachable. When Gnus notices this, it asks you whether you want the
17746 server to be switched to offline state. If you say yes, then the
17747 server will behave somewhat as if it was unplugged, except that Gnus
17748 will ask you whether you want to switch it back online again.
17750 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
17755 @findex gnus-unplugged
17756 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
17757 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
17758 already fetched while in this mode.
17761 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
17762 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
17763 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
17764 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode (@pxref{Mail
17765 Source Specifiers}).
17768 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the
17769 news onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press
17770 @kbd{g} to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J s} to fetch
17771 all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus know which
17772 articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}).
17775 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
17776 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
17777 then you read the news offline.
17780 And then you go to step 2.
17783 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
17789 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
17790 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
17791 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
17792 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
17793 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
17794 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
17795 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} servers in @code{gnus-select-method} and
17796 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
17799 Decide on download policy. It's fairly simple once you decide whether
17800 you are going to use agent categories, topic parameters, and/or group
17801 parameters to implement your policy. If you're new to gnus, it
17802 is probably best to start with a category, @xref{Agent Categories}.
17804 Both topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) and agent categories
17805 (@pxref{Agent Categories}) provide for setting a policy that applies
17806 to multiple groups. Which you use is entirely up to you. Topic
17807 parameters do override categories so, if you mix the two, you'll have
17808 to take that into account. If you have a few groups that deviate from
17809 your policy, you can use group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to
17813 Uhm@dots{} that's it.
17817 @node Agent Categories
17818 @subsection Agent Categories
17820 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
17821 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
17822 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
17823 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
17824 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
17825 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
17826 you're interested in the articles anyway.
17828 One of the more effective methods for controlling what is to be
17829 downloaded is to create a @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all)
17830 groups to this category. Groups that do not belong in any other
17831 category belong to the @code{default} category. Gnus has its own
17832 buffer for creating and managing categories.
17834 If you prefer, you can also use group parameters (@pxref{Group
17835 Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) for an
17836 alternative approach to controlling the agent. The only real
17837 difference is that categories are specific to the agent (so there is
17838 less to learn) while group and topic parameters include the kitchen
17841 Since you can set agent parameters in several different places we have
17842 a rule to decide which source to believe. This rule specifies that
17843 the parameter sources are checked in the following order: group
17844 parameters, topic parameters, agent category, and finally customizable
17845 variables. So you can mix all of these sources to produce a wide range
17846 of behavior, just don't blame me if you don't remember where you put
17850 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
17851 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
17852 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
17856 @node Category Syntax
17857 @subsubsection Category Syntax
17859 A category consists of a name, the list of groups belonging to the
17860 category, and a number of optional parameters that override the
17861 customizable variables. The complete list of agent parameters are
17864 @cindex Agent Parameters
17866 @item agent-cat-name
17867 The name of the category.
17870 The list of groups that are in this category.
17872 @item agent-predicate
17873 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
17874 are eligible for downloading; and
17876 @item agent-score-file
17877 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
17878 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
17879 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
17881 @item agent-enable-expiration
17882 a boolean indicating whether the agent should expire old articles in
17883 this group. Most groups should be expired to conserve disk space. In
17884 fact, its probably safe to say that the gnus.* hierarchy contains the
17885 only groups that should not be expired.
17887 @item agent-days-until-old
17888 an integer indicating the number of days that the agent should wait
17889 before deciding that a read article is safe to expire.
17891 @item agent-low-score
17892 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-low-score}.
17894 @item agent-high-score
17895 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-high-score}.
17897 @item agent-length-when-short
17898 an integer that overrides the value of
17899 @code{gnus-agent-short-article}.
17901 @item agent-length-when-long
17902 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-long-article}.
17904 @item agent-enable-undownloaded-faces
17905 a symbol indicating whether the summary buffer should display
17906 undownloaded articles using the @code{gnus-summary-*-undownloaded-face}
17907 faces. Any symbol other than @code{nil} will enable the use of
17908 undownloaded faces.
17911 The name of a category can not be changed once the category has been
17914 Each category maintains a list of groups that are exclusive members of
17915 that category. The exclusivity rule is automatically enforced, add a
17916 group to a new category and it is automatically removed from its old
17919 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
17920 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
17921 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
17922 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
17924 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
17925 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
17926 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
17928 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
17929 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
17930 operators sprinkled in between.
17932 Perhaps some examples are in order.
17934 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
17935 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
17941 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
17942 short (for some value of ``short'').
17944 Here's a more complex predicate:
17953 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
17954 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
17957 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
17958 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
17959 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
17961 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
17962 you want to do, you can write your own.
17964 When evaluating each of these predicates, the named constant will be
17965 bound to the value determined by calling
17966 @code{gnus-agent-find-parameter} on the appropriate parameter. For
17967 example, gnus-agent-short-article will be bound to
17968 @code{(gnus-agent-find-parameter group 'agent-short-article)}. This
17969 means that you can specify a predicate in your category then tune that
17970 predicate to individual groups.
17974 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
17975 lines; default 100.
17978 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
17979 lines; default 200.
17982 True iff the article has a download score less than
17983 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
17986 True iff the article has a download score greater than
17987 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
17990 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
17991 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
17992 checksum and sees whether articles match.
18001 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
18002 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
18003 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
18006 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
18007 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
18008 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
18009 something along the lines of the following:
18012 (defun my-article-old-p ()
18013 "Say whether an article is old."
18014 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
18015 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
18018 with the predicate then defined as:
18021 (not my-article-old-p)
18024 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
18025 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
18029 (require 'gnus-agent)
18030 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
18031 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
18032 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
18035 and simply specify your predicate as:
18041 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
18042 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
18043 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
18044 just don't give a damn.
18046 The above predicates apply to @emph{all} the groups which belong to the
18047 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
18048 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
18049 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in its group
18050 parameters like so:
18053 (agent-predicate . short)
18056 This is the group/topic parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
18057 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
18058 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
18060 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
18063 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
18066 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
18067 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
18068 predicate is assumed to be a list.
18071 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
18072 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
18073 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
18074 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
18075 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
18076 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
18078 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
18079 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
18080 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
18081 if it's to be specific to that group.
18083 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
18090 This has the same syntax as a normal Gnus score file except only a
18091 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
18097 Category specification
18101 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
18107 Group/Topic Parameter specification
18110 (agent-score ("from"
18111 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
18116 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
18122 These score files must @emph{only} contain the permitted scoring
18123 keywords stated above.
18129 Category specification
18132 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
18138 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
18142 Group Parameter specification
18145 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
18148 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
18153 Use @code{normal} score files
18155 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
18156 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
18157 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
18158 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
18160 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
18161 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
18162 files for a group, @emph{filtering out} those sections that do not
18163 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
18167 Category Specification
18174 Group Parameter specification
18177 (agent-score . file)
18182 @node Category Buffer
18183 @subsubsection Category Buffer
18185 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
18186 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
18187 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
18189 The following commands are available in this buffer:
18193 @kindex q (Category)
18194 @findex gnus-category-exit
18195 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
18198 @kindex e (Category)
18199 @findex gnus-category-customize-category
18200 Use a customization buffer to set all of the selected category's
18201 parameters at one time (@code{gnus-category-customize-category}).
18204 @kindex k (Category)
18205 @findex gnus-category-kill
18206 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
18209 @kindex c (Category)
18210 @findex gnus-category-copy
18211 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
18214 @kindex a (Category)
18215 @findex gnus-category-add
18216 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
18219 @kindex p (Category)
18220 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
18221 Edit the predicate of the current category
18222 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
18225 @kindex g (Category)
18226 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
18227 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
18228 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
18231 @kindex s (Category)
18232 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
18233 Edit the download score rule of the current category
18234 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
18237 @kindex l (Category)
18238 @findex gnus-category-list
18239 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
18243 @node Category Variables
18244 @subsubsection Category Variables
18247 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
18248 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
18249 Hook run in category buffers.
18251 @item gnus-category-line-format
18252 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
18253 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
18254 Variables}). Valid elements are:
18258 The name of the category.
18261 The number of groups in the category.
18264 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
18265 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
18266 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
18268 @item gnus-agent-short-article
18269 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
18270 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
18272 @item gnus-agent-long-article
18273 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
18274 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
18276 @item gnus-agent-low-score
18277 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
18278 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
18281 @item gnus-agent-high-score
18282 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
18283 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
18286 @item gnus-agent-expire-days
18287 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
18288 The number of days that a @samp{read} article must stay in the agent's
18289 local disk before becoming eligible for expiration (While the name is
18290 the same, this doesn't mean expiring the article on the server. It
18291 just means deleting the local copy of the article). What is also
18292 important to understand is that the counter starts with the time the
18293 article was written to the local disk and not the time the article was
18297 @item gnus-agent-enable-expiration
18298 @vindex gnus-agent-enable-expiration
18299 Determines whether articles in a group are, by default, expired or
18300 retained indefinitely. The default is @code{ENABLE} which means that
18301 you'll have to disable expiration when desired. On the other hand,
18302 you could set this to @code{DISABLE}. In that case, you would then
18303 have to enable expiration in selected groups.
18308 @node Agent Commands
18309 @subsection Agent Commands
18310 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-plugged
18311 @kindex J j (Agent)
18313 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
18314 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
18315 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
18319 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
18320 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
18321 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
18327 @node Group Agent Commands
18328 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
18332 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
18333 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
18334 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
18335 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
18338 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
18339 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
18340 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
18343 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
18344 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
18345 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
18346 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
18349 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
18350 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
18351 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
18352 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
18355 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
18356 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
18357 Add the current group to an Agent category
18358 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
18359 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18362 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
18363 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
18364 Remove the current group from its category, if any
18365 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
18366 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18369 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
18370 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
18371 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
18377 @node Summary Agent Commands
18378 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
18382 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
18383 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
18384 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
18387 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
18388 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
18389 Remove the downloading mark from the article
18390 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
18394 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
18395 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
18396 Toggle whether to download the article
18397 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The download mark is @samp{%} by
18401 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
18402 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
18403 Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
18406 @kindex J S (Agent Summary)
18407 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
18408 Download all eligible (@pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
18409 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
18412 @kindex J s (Agent Summary)
18413 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-series
18414 Download all processable articles in this group.
18415 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-series}).
18418 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
18419 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
18420 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
18421 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
18426 @node Server Agent Commands
18427 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
18431 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
18432 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
18433 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
18434 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
18437 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
18438 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
18439 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
18440 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
18445 @node Agent Visuals
18446 @subsection Agent Visuals
18448 If you open a summary while unplugged and, Gnus knows from the group's
18449 active range that there are more articles than the headers currently
18450 stored in the Agent, you may see some articles whose subject looks
18451 something like @samp{[Undownloaded article #####]}. These are
18452 placeholders for the missing headers. Aside from setting a mark,
18453 there is not much that can be done with one of these placeholders.
18454 When Gnus finally gets a chance to fetch the group's headers, the
18455 placeholders will automatically be replaced by the actual headers.
18456 You can configure the summary buffer's maneuvering to skip over the
18457 placeholders if you care (See @code{gnus-auto-goto-ignores}).
18459 While it may be obvious to all, the only headers and articles
18460 available while unplugged are those headers and articles that were
18461 fetched into the Agent while previously plugged. To put it another
18462 way, ``If you forget to fetch something while plugged, you might have a
18463 less than satisfying unplugged session''. For this reason, the Agent
18464 adds two visual effects to your summary buffer. These effects display
18465 the download status of each article so that you always know which
18466 articles will be available when unplugged.
18468 The first visual effect is the @samp{%O} spec. If you customize
18469 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} to include this specifier, you will add
18470 a single character field that indicates an article's download status.
18471 Articles that have been fetched into either the Agent or the Cache,
18472 will display @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} (defaults to @samp{+}). All
18473 other articles will display @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} (defaults to
18474 @samp{-}). If you open a group that has not been agentized, a space
18475 (@samp{ }) will be displayed.
18477 The second visual effect are the undownloaded faces. The faces, there
18478 are three indicating the article's score (low, normal, high), seem to
18479 result in a love/hate response from many Gnus users. The problem is
18480 that the face selection is controlled by a list of condition tests and
18481 face names (See @code{gnus-summary-highlight}). Each condition is
18482 tested in the order in which it appears in the list so early
18483 conditions have precedence over later conditions. All of this means
18484 that, if you tick an undownloaded article, the article will continue
18485 to be displayed in the undownloaded face rather than the ticked face.
18487 If you use the Agent as a cache (to avoid downloading the same article
18488 each time you visit it or to minimize your connection time), the
18489 undownloaded face will probably seem like a good idea. The reason
18490 being that you do all of our work (marking, reading, deleting) with
18491 downloaded articles so the normal faces always appear. For those
18492 users using the agent to improve online performance by caching the NOV
18493 database (most users since 5.10.2), the undownloaded faces may appear
18494 to be an absolutely horrible idea. The issue being that, since none
18495 of their articles have been fetched into the Agent, all of the
18496 normal faces will be obscured by the undownloaded faces.
18498 If you would like to use the undownloaded faces, you must enable the
18499 undownloaded faces by setting the @code{agent-enable-undownloaded-faces}
18500 group parameter to t. This parameter, like all other agent
18501 parameters, may be set on an Agent Category (@pxref{Agent
18502 Categories}), a Group Topic (@pxref{Topic Parameters}), or an
18503 individual group (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
18505 The one problem common to all users using the agent is how quickly it
18506 can consume disk space. If you using the agent on many groups, it is
18507 even more difficult to effectively recover disk space. One solution
18508 is the @samp{%F} format available in @code{gnus-group-line-format}.
18509 This format will display the actual disk space used by articles
18510 fetched into both the agent and cache. By knowing which groups use
18511 the most space, users know where to focus their efforts when ``agent
18512 expiring'' articles.
18514 @node Agent as Cache
18515 @subsection Agent as Cache
18517 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
18518 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
18519 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
18520 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
18521 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
18522 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
18523 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
18524 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
18525 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
18527 If you so desire, you can configure the agent (see @code{gnus-agent-cache}
18528 @pxref{Agent Variables}) to always download headers and articles while
18529 plugged. Gnus will almost certainly be slower, but it will be kept
18530 synchronized with the server. That last point probably won't make any
18531 sense if you are using a nntp or nnimap back end.
18534 @subsection Agent Expiry
18536 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
18537 @findex gnus-agent-expire
18538 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
18539 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire-group
18540 @findex gnus-agent-expire-group
18541 @cindex agent expiry
18542 @cindex Gnus agent expiry
18545 The Agent back end, @code{nnagent}, doesn't handle expiry. Well, at
18546 least it doesn't handle it like other back ends. Instead, there are
18547 special @code{gnus-agent-expire} and @code{gnus-agent-expire-group}
18548 commands that will expire all read articles that are older than
18549 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. They can be run whenever you feel
18550 that you're running out of space. Neither are particularly fast or
18551 efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to interrupt them (with
18552 @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started one of them.
18554 Note that other functions, e.g. @code{gnus-request-expire-articles},
18555 might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you to keep the agent
18556 synchronized with the group.
18558 The agent parameter @code{agent-enable-expiration} may be used to
18559 prevent expiration in selected groups.
18561 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
18562 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, the agent
18563 expiration commands will expire all articles---unread, read, ticked
18564 and dormant. If @code{nil} (which is the default), only read articles
18565 are eligible for expiry, and unread, ticked and dormant articles will
18566 be kept indefinitely.
18568 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
18569 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's are special
18570 commands, @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} and
18571 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group}, to fix possible problems.
18573 @node Agent Regeneration
18574 @subsection Agent Regeneration
18576 @cindex agent regeneration
18577 @cindex Gnus agent regeneration
18578 @cindex regeneration
18580 The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
18581 due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
18582 @code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
18583 to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
18584 internal inconsistencies.
18586 For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
18587 downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
18588 know about articles successfully downloaded prior to the connection
18589 failure. Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
18590 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
18591 such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
18593 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
18594 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
18595 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
18596 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
18597 you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
18598 recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
18600 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
18601 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
18602 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
18603 of individual articles to repair the local @acronym{NOV}(header) database. It
18604 then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
18605 are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
18608 @node Agent and IMAP
18609 @subsection Agent and IMAP
18611 The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
18612 since there are some conceptual differences between @acronym{NNTP} and
18613 @acronym{IMAP}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
18614 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @acronym{IMAP} Disconnected Mode client.
18616 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
18617 are kept on the @acronym{IMAP} server, rather than in @file{.newsrc} as is the
18618 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
18619 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
18621 Gnus keeps track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
18622 Agent. When you plug back in, Gnus will check if you have any changed
18623 any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the server.
18624 The behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
18626 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
18627 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
18628 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
18629 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
18630 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
18631 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
18633 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
18634 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
18635 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
18636 in the group buffer.
18638 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
18639 expect from a disconnected @acronym{IMAP} client, including:
18644 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
18647 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
18651 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by ``pushing''
18652 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
18653 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
18654 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on an article, quit the group and
18655 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
18656 removed from the server when you ``synchronize''. The queued flag
18657 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
18658 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
18661 @node Outgoing Messages
18662 @subsection Outgoing Messages
18664 By default, when Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail
18665 and news) are stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}).
18666 You can view them there after posting, and edit them at will.
18668 You can control the circumstances under which outgoing mail is queued
18669 (see @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail}, @pxref{Agent Variables}). Outgoing
18670 news is always queued when Gnus is unplugged, and never otherwise.
18672 You can send the messages either from the draft group with the special
18673 commands available there, or you can use the @kbd{J S} command in the
18674 group buffer to send all the sendable messages in the draft group.
18675 Posting news will only work when Gnus is plugged, but you can send
18678 If sending mail while unplugged does not work for you and you worry
18679 about hitting @kbd{J S} by accident when unplugged, you can have Gnus
18680 ask you to confirm your action (see
18681 @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue}, @pxref{Agent Variables}).
18683 @node Agent Variables
18684 @subsection Agent Variables
18689 Is the agent enabled? The default is @code{t}. When first enabled,
18690 the agent will use @code{gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods} to
18691 automatically mark some back ends as agentized. You may change which
18692 back ends are agentized using the agent commands in the server buffer.
18694 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
18695 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
18698 @item gnus-agent-directory
18699 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
18700 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
18701 @file{~/News/agent/}.
18703 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
18704 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
18705 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
18706 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
18707 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
18710 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
18711 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
18712 Hook run when connecting to the network.
18714 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
18715 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
18716 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
18718 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
18719 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
18720 Hook run when finished fetching articles.
18722 @item gnus-agent-cache
18723 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
18724 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @acronym{NOV} and
18725 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
18726 The default is non-@code{nil}, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
18728 @item gnus-agent-go-online
18729 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
18730 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
18731 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
18732 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
18733 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
18734 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
18737 @item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
18738 @vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
18739 If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
18740 mark articles as unread after downloading. This is usually a safe
18741 thing to do as the newly downloaded article has obviously not been
18742 read. The default is t.
18744 @item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
18745 @vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
18746 If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
18747 agent will let the agent predicate decide whether articles need to be
18748 downloaded or not, for all articles. When @code{nil}, the default,
18749 the agent will only let the predicate decide whether unread articles
18750 are downloaded or not. If you enable this, you may also want to look
18751 into the agent expiry settings (@pxref{Category Variables}), so that
18752 the agent doesn't download articles which the agent will later expire,
18753 over and over again.
18755 @item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
18756 @vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
18757 The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
18758 them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
18759 the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
18760 have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
18761 limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
18762 performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
18763 connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
18764 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
18765 However, all articles parsed prior to loosing the connection will be
18766 available while unplugged). The default is 10M so it is unusual to
18769 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
18770 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
18771 Perhaps not an Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
18772 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
18773 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
18774 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
18775 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
18776 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
18777 is only valid if the Agent is used.
18779 @item gnus-auto-goto-ignores
18780 @vindex gnus-auto-goto-ignores
18781 Another variable that isn't an Agent variable, yet so closely related
18782 that most will look for it here, this variable tells the summary
18783 buffer how to maneuver around undownloaded (only headers stored in the
18784 agent) and unfetched (neither article nor headers stored) articles.
18786 The legal values are @code{nil} (maneuver to any article),
18787 @code{undownloaded} (maneuvering while unplugged ignores articles that
18788 have not been fetched), @code{always-undownloaded} (maneuvering always
18789 ignores articles that have not been fetched), @code{unfetched}
18790 (maneuvering ignores articles whose headers have not been fetched).
18792 @item gnus-agent-queue-mail
18793 @vindex gnus-agent-queue-mail
18794 When @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail} is @code{always}, Gnus will always
18795 queue mail rather than sending it straight away. When @code{t}, Gnus
18796 will queue mail when unplugged only. When @code{nil}, never queue
18797 mail. The default is @code{t}.
18799 @item gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
18800 @vindex gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
18801 When @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue} is non-@code{nil} Gnus will
18802 prompt you to confirm that you really wish to proceed if you hit
18803 @kbd{J S} while unplugged. The default is @code{nil}.
18805 @item gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
18806 @vindex gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
18807 If you have never used the Agent before (or more technically, if
18808 @file{~/News/agent/lib/servers} does not exist), Gnus will
18809 automatically agentize a few servers for you. This variable control
18810 which back ends should be auto-agentized. It is typically only useful
18811 to agentize remote back ends. The auto-agentizing has the same effect
18812 as running @kbd{J a} on the servers (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}).
18813 If the file exist, you must manage the servers manually by adding or
18814 removing them, this variable is only applicable the first time you
18815 start Gnus. The default is @samp{(nntp nnimap)}.
18820 @node Example Setup
18821 @subsection Example Setup
18823 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
18824 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
18825 @file{~/.gnus.el} file to get started.
18828 ;;; @r{Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @acronym{NNTP}}
18829 ;;; @r{from your ISP's server.}
18830 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
18832 ;;; @r{Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from}
18833 ;;; @r{your ISP's @acronym{POP} server.}
18834 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
18836 ;;; @r{Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.}
18837 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
18839 ;;; @r{Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.}
18840 ;;; (gnus-agentize) ; @r{The obsolete setting.}
18841 ;;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; @r{Now the default.}
18844 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
18845 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
18848 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
18849 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
18850 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
18851 @acronym{NNTP} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
18852 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
18855 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
18856 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
18857 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
18858 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
18859 back all the killed groups.)
18861 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
18862 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
18863 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
18866 @node Batching Agents
18867 @subsection Batching Agents
18868 @findex gnus-agent-batch
18870 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
18871 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
18872 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
18874 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
18875 following incantation:
18879 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
18883 @node Agent Caveats
18884 @subsection Agent Caveats
18886 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
18887 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
18891 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
18893 @strong{No}. If you want this behaviour, add
18894 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
18895 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
18897 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in
18898 the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
18900 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is @code{nil}.
18904 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
18905 articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
18906 locally stored articles.
18913 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
18914 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
18915 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
18918 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
18919 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
18920 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
18921 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
18922 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
18924 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
18925 before generating the summary buffer.
18927 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
18928 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
18929 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
18931 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
18932 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
18933 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
18934 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
18937 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
18938 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
18939 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
18940 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
18941 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
18942 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
18943 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
18944 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
18945 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
18946 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
18947 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
18948 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
18949 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
18950 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
18951 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
18952 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
18956 @node Summary Score Commands
18957 @section Summary Score Commands
18958 @cindex score commands
18960 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
18961 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
18962 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
18963 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
18964 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
18966 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
18967 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
18968 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
18969 score file the current one.
18971 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
18976 @kindex V s (Summary)
18977 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
18978 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
18981 @kindex V S (Summary)
18982 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
18983 Display the score of the current article
18984 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
18987 @kindex V t (Summary)
18988 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
18989 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
18990 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}). In the @code{*Score Trace*} buffer, you
18991 may type @kbd{e} to edit score file corresponding to the score rule on
18992 current line and @kbd{f} to format (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) the
18993 score file and edit it.
18996 @kindex V w (Summary)
18997 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
18998 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
19001 @kindex V R (Summary)
19002 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
19003 Run the current summary through the scoring process
19004 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
19005 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
19006 effect you're having.
19009 @kindex V c (Summary)
19010 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
19011 Make a different score file the current
19012 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
19015 @kindex V e (Summary)
19016 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
19017 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
19018 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
19022 @kindex V f (Summary)
19023 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
19024 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
19025 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
19028 @kindex V F (Summary)
19029 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
19030 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
19031 after editing score files.
19034 @kindex V C (Summary)
19035 @findex gnus-score-customize
19036 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
19037 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
19041 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
19046 @kindex V m (Summary)
19047 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
19048 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
19049 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
19052 @kindex V x (Summary)
19053 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
19054 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
19055 expunge all articles below this score
19056 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
19059 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
19060 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
19063 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
19064 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
19068 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
19069 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
19071 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
19072 keys are available:
19076 Score on the author name.
19079 Score on the subject line.
19082 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
19085 Score on the @code{References} line.
19091 Score on the number of lines.
19094 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
19097 Score on an ``extra'' header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
19098 if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
19101 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
19102 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
19103 @file{ADAPT} files.)
19112 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
19118 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
19119 what headers you are scoring on.
19131 Substring matching.
19134 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
19163 Greater than number.
19168 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
19169 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
19170 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
19175 Temporary score entry.
19178 Permanent score entry.
19181 Immediately scoring.
19185 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
19186 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
19187 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
19191 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
19192 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
19193 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
19194 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
19196 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
19197 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
19198 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
19199 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
19200 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
19202 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
19203 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
19204 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
19205 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
19206 current score file.
19208 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
19209 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
19210 pretend they are keymaps or not.
19213 @node Group Score Commands
19214 @section Group Score Commands
19215 @cindex group score commands
19217 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
19222 @kindex W e (Group)
19223 @findex gnus-score-edit-all-score
19224 Edit the apply-to-all-groups all.SCORE file. You will be popped into
19225 a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score File Editing}).
19228 @kindex W f (Group)
19229 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
19230 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
19231 all the time. This command will flush the cache
19232 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
19236 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
19238 @findex gnus-batch-score
19239 @cindex batch scoring
19241 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
19245 @node Score Variables
19246 @section Score Variables
19247 @cindex score variables
19251 @item gnus-use-scoring
19252 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
19253 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
19254 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
19256 @item gnus-kill-killed
19257 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
19258 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
19259 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
19260 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
19261 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
19262 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
19263 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
19265 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
19266 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
19267 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
19268 initialized from the @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
19269 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
19271 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
19272 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
19273 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
19274 (@file{SCORE} by default.)
19276 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
19277 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
19278 @cindex score cache
19279 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
19280 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
19281 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely
19282 to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
19283 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
19284 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
19285 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
19288 @item gnus-save-score
19289 @vindex gnus-save-score
19290 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
19291 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
19292 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
19294 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
19295 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
19296 across group visits.
19298 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
19299 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
19300 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
19301 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
19302 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
19303 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
19304 manually entered data.
19306 @item gnus-summary-default-score
19307 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
19308 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
19310 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
19311 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
19312 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
19313 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
19314 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
19315 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
19317 @item gnus-score-over-mark
19318 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
19319 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
19320 default. Default is @samp{+}.
19322 @item gnus-score-below-mark
19323 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
19324 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
19325 default. Default is @samp{-}.
19327 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
19328 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
19329 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
19330 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
19332 Predefined functions available are:
19335 @item gnus-score-find-single
19336 @findex gnus-score-find-single
19337 Only apply the group's own score file.
19339 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
19340 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
19341 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
19342 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
19343 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
19344 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
19345 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
19346 then a regexp match is done.
19348 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
19349 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
19351 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
19352 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
19353 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
19354 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
19356 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
19357 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
19358 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
19359 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
19360 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
19364 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
19365 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
19366 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
19367 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
19368 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
19369 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
19370 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
19373 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
19374 overall score file, you could use the value
19376 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
19377 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
19380 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
19381 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
19382 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
19383 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
19384 are expired. It's 7 by default.
19386 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
19387 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
19388 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
19389 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
19390 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
19391 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
19392 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
19393 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
19395 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
19396 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
19397 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
19399 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
19400 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
19401 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be
19402 simplified for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
19403 threading---according to the current value of
19404 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions}. If the scoring entry uses
19405 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
19406 simplified in this manner.
19411 @node Score File Format
19412 @section Score File Format
19413 @cindex score file format
19415 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
19416 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
19417 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
19419 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
19423 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
19425 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
19427 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
19429 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
19434 (mark-and-expunge -10)
19438 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
19439 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
19440 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
19441 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
19445 This example demonstrates most score file elements. @xref{Advanced
19446 Scoring}, for a different approach.
19448 Even though this looks much like Lisp code, nothing here is actually
19449 @code{eval}ed. The Lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
19450 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
19452 Six keys are supported by this alist:
19457 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
19458 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
19459 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
19460 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
19461 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
19462 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
19463 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
19464 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
19465 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
19466 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
19467 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
19468 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
19469 to articles that matches these score entries.
19471 Following this key is an arbitrary number of score entries, where each
19472 score entry has one to four elements.
19476 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
19477 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
19481 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
19482 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
19483 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
19484 is successful. If this element is not present, the
19485 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
19486 instead. This is 1000 by default.
19489 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
19490 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
19491 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
19492 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
19493 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
19496 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
19497 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
19498 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
19499 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
19502 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
19503 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
19504 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
19505 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
19506 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
19507 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
19508 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
19509 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
19510 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
19511 instead, if you feel like.
19514 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
19515 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
19516 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
19517 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
19518 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin
19519 host, if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks @samp{NNTP-Posting-Host} in
19523 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s
19524 "NNTP-Posting-Host")
19528 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
19529 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
19531 These predicates are true if
19534 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
19537 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
19538 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
19545 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
19546 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
19547 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
19548 it's not. I think.)
19550 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
19551 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
19552 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
19553 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
19556 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
19557 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
19558 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
19559 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
19560 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
19561 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
19562 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
19566 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
19567 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
19568 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
19569 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
19570 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
19571 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
19572 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
19573 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
19576 @item Head, Body, All
19577 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
19581 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
19582 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
19583 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
19584 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
19585 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
19586 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
19587 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
19591 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
19592 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
19593 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
19594 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
19595 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
19596 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
19597 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
19598 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
19599 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
19600 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
19601 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
19605 @cindex score file atoms
19607 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19608 lower than this number will be marked as read.
19611 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19612 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
19614 @item mark-and-expunge
19615 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19616 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
19619 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
19620 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
19621 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
19622 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
19623 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
19626 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
19627 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
19630 @item exclude-files
19631 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
19632 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
19636 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
19637 ignored when handling global score files.
19640 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
19641 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
19642 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
19643 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
19646 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
19647 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
19648 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
19649 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
19651 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
19655 (mark-and-expunge -100)
19658 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
19659 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
19660 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
19661 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
19662 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
19664 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
19665 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
19666 scoring rules exist.
19669 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
19670 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
19671 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
19672 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
19673 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
19674 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
19675 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
19676 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
19677 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
19678 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
19679 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
19683 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
19684 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
19685 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
19686 file for a number of groups.
19689 @cindex local variables
19690 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(@var{var}
19691 @var{value})} pairs. Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the
19692 current summary buffer, and set to the value specified. This is a
19693 convenient, if somewhat strange, way of setting variables in some
19694 groups if you don't like hooks much. Note that the @var{value} won't
19699 @node Score File Editing
19700 @section Score File Editing
19702 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
19703 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
19704 with a mode for that.
19706 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
19707 additional commands:
19712 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
19713 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
19714 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
19715 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
19718 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
19719 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
19720 Insert the current date in numerical format
19721 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
19722 you were wondering.
19725 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
19726 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
19727 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
19728 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
19729 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
19734 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
19736 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
19737 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
19739 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f}, @kbd{V e} and
19740 @kbd{V t} to begin editing score files.
19743 @node Adaptive Scoring
19744 @section Adaptive Scoring
19745 @cindex adaptive scoring
19747 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
19748 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
19749 stupidity, to be precise.
19751 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
19752 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
19753 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
19754 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
19755 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
19756 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
19757 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
19758 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
19759 variable to @code{(word line)}.
19761 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
19762 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
19763 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
19764 might look something like this:
19767 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
19768 '((gnus-unread-mark)
19769 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
19770 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
19771 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
19772 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
19773 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
19774 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
19775 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
19776 (gnus-ancient-mark)
19777 (gnus-low-score-mark)
19778 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
19781 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
19782 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
19783 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
19784 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
19785 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
19786 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
19789 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
19790 will be applied to each article.
19792 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
19793 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{e}) will have a
19794 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
19795 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
19797 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
19798 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
19799 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
19800 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
19802 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
19803 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
19804 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
19805 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
19807 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
19808 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
19809 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
19810 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
19811 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
19812 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
19814 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
19815 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
19816 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
19818 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
19819 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
19820 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
19822 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
19823 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
19824 let you use different rules in different groups.
19826 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
19827 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
19828 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
19831 @vindex gnus-adaptive-pretty-print
19832 Adaptive score files can get huge and are not meant to be edited by
19833 human hands. If @code{gnus-adaptive-pretty-print} is @code{nil} (the
19834 deafult) those files will not be written in a human readable way.
19836 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
19837 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
19838 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
19839 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
19840 the length of the match is less than
19841 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
19842 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
19845 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
19846 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
19847 headers. If you adapt on words, the
19848 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
19849 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
19852 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
19853 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
19854 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
19855 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
19856 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
19859 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
19860 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
19861 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
19862 score with 30 points.
19864 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
19865 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
19866 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
19867 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
19868 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
19870 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
19871 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
19872 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
19873 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
19874 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
19876 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
19877 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
19878 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
19879 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
19881 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
19882 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
19883 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
19884 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
19886 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
19887 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
19888 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
19889 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
19890 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
19892 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
19893 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
19894 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
19896 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
19897 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
19898 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
19899 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
19902 @node Home Score File
19903 @section Home Score File
19905 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
19906 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
19907 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
19908 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
19910 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
19911 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
19912 could perhaps use the same home score file.
19914 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
19915 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
19920 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
19924 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
19925 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
19929 A list. The elements in this list can be:
19933 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
19934 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
19937 A function. If the function returns non-@code{nil}, the result will
19938 be used as the home score file.
19941 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
19944 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
19949 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
19952 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19953 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
19956 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
19957 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
19959 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
19961 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19962 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
19965 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
19966 Other functions include
19969 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
19970 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
19971 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
19972 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
19976 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
19977 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
19978 their own home score files:
19981 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19982 ;; @r{All groups that match the regexp @code{"\\.emacs"}}
19983 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
19984 ;; @r{All the comp groups in one score file}
19985 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
19988 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
19989 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
19990 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
19991 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
19992 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
19994 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
19995 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
19996 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
19997 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
19998 precedence over this variable.
20001 @node Followups To Yourself
20002 @section Followups To Yourself
20004 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
20005 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
20006 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
20007 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
20008 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
20009 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
20013 @item gnus-score-followup-article
20014 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
20015 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
20018 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
20019 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
20020 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
20024 @vindex message-sent-hook
20025 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
20026 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
20028 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
20032 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
20033 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
20037 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
20038 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
20041 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
20042 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
20047 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
20051 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
20052 is system-dependent.
20055 @node Scoring On Other Headers
20056 @section Scoring On Other Headers
20057 @cindex scoring on other headers
20059 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
20060 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
20061 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
20062 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
20063 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
20065 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
20066 mail groups, you have greater control. In @ref{To From Newsgroups},
20067 it's explained in greater detail what this mechanism does, but here's
20068 a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on how to allow scoring on the
20069 @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
20071 Put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
20074 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
20075 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
20078 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
20079 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
20080 time if you have much mail.
20082 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
20083 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
20089 @section Scoring Tips
20090 @cindex scoring tips
20096 @cindex scoring crossposts
20097 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
20098 the @code{Xref} header.
20100 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
20103 @item Multiple crossposts
20104 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
20105 more than, say, 3 groups:
20108 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
20112 @item Matching on the body
20113 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
20114 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
20115 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
20116 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
20117 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
20118 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
20119 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
20122 @item Marking as read
20123 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
20124 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
20125 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
20129 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
20131 @item Negated character classes
20132 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
20133 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
20134 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
20138 @node Reverse Scoring
20139 @section Reverse Scoring
20140 @cindex reverse scoring
20142 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
20143 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
20144 like this in your score file:
20148 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
20153 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
20154 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
20157 @node Global Score Files
20158 @section Global Score Files
20159 @cindex global score files
20161 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
20162 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
20163 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
20165 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
20166 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
20167 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
20169 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
20170 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
20171 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
20172 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
20173 files are applicable to which group.
20175 To use the score file
20176 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
20177 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
20181 (setq gnus-global-score-files
20182 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
20183 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
20186 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
20188 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
20189 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
20190 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
20191 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
20193 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
20194 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
20196 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
20197 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
20198 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
20199 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
20200 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
20201 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
20203 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
20209 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
20211 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
20213 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
20215 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
20216 lowered out of existence.
20218 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
20219 articles completely.
20222 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
20223 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
20224 old articles for a long time.
20227 @dots{} I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
20228 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
20229 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
20230 holding our breath yet?
20234 @section Kill Files
20237 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
20238 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
20239 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
20241 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
20242 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
20243 files into score files.
20245 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
20246 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
20247 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
20248 that isn't a very good idea.
20250 Normal kill files look like this:
20253 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20254 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
20258 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
20259 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
20261 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
20262 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
20265 Two summary functions for editing a @sc{gnus} kill file:
20270 @kindex M-k (Summary)
20271 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
20272 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
20275 @kindex M-K (Summary)
20276 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
20277 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
20280 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
20285 @kindex M-k (Group)
20286 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
20287 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
20290 @kindex M-K (Group)
20291 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
20292 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
20295 Kill file variables:
20298 @item gnus-kill-file-name
20299 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
20300 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
20301 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
20302 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
20303 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
20304 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
20306 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
20307 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
20308 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
20309 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
20312 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
20313 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
20314 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
20315 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
20316 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
20317 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
20318 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
20319 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
20320 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
20322 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
20323 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
20324 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
20329 @node Converting Kill Files
20330 @section Converting Kill Files
20332 @cindex converting kill files
20334 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
20335 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
20336 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
20339 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
20340 You can fetch it from
20341 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
20343 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
20344 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
20345 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
20349 @node Advanced Scoring
20350 @section Advanced Scoring
20352 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
20353 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
20354 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
20355 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
20356 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
20358 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
20362 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
20363 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
20364 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
20368 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
20369 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
20371 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
20372 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
20373 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
20374 non-@code{nil} value.
20376 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
20377 operator, and various match operators.
20384 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20385 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
20386 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
20391 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20392 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
20393 then this operator will return @code{false}.
20398 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
20399 logical negation of the value of its argument.
20403 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
20404 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
20405 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
20406 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
20407 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
20408 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
20409 the ancestry you want to go.
20411 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
20412 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
20413 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
20414 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
20415 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
20418 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
20419 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
20421 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
20422 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
20425 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
20426 when he's talking about Gnus:
20431 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20432 ("subject" "Gnus"))
20439 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
20443 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20450 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
20451 really don't want to read what he's written:
20455 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20456 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
20460 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
20461 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
20462 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
20469 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
20470 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
20471 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
20472 ("body" "white.*socks"))
20476 The possibilities are endless.
20479 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
20480 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
20482 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
20483 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
20484 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
20485 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
20486 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
20487 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
20488 @samp{subject}) first.
20490 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
20491 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
20502 Then that means ``score on the from header of the grandparent of the
20503 current article''. An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
20509 ("subject" "Gnus")))
20516 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
20517 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
20522 @section Score Decays
20523 @cindex score decays
20526 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
20527 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
20528 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
20529 use them in any sensible way.
20531 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
20532 @findex gnus-decay-score
20533 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
20534 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
20535 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
20536 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
20537 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
20538 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
20539 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
20540 definition of that function:
20543 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
20544 "Decay SCORE according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
20545 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
20547 (* (if (< score 0) -1 1)
20549 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
20551 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
20552 (if (and (featurep 'xemacs)
20553 ;; XEmacs' floor can handle only the floating point
20554 ;; number below the half of the maximum integer.
20555 (> (abs n) (lsh -1 -2)))
20557 (car (split-string (number-to-string n) "\\.")))
20561 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
20562 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
20563 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
20564 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
20568 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
20571 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
20574 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
20578 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
20579 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
20580 the new score, which should be an integer.
20582 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
20583 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
20588 @include message.texi
20589 @chapter Emacs MIME
20590 @include emacs-mime.texi
20592 @include sieve.texi
20604 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
20605 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
20606 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
20607 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
20608 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
20609 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
20610 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
20611 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
20612 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
20613 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
20614 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
20615 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
20616 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
20617 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
20618 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
20619 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
20620 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
20621 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
20622 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
20623 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
20627 @node Process/Prefix
20628 @section Process/Prefix
20629 @cindex process/prefix convention
20631 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
20632 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
20634 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
20635 command to be performed on.
20639 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
20640 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
20641 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
20642 with the current one.
20644 @vindex transient-mark-mode
20645 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
20646 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
20648 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
20649 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
20652 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
20653 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
20655 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
20658 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
20659 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
20660 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
20661 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
20663 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
20664 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
20665 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
20666 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
20667 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
20668 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
20669 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
20670 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
20672 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
20673 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
20674 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
20675 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
20676 expirable, you could say @kbd{M P b M-& E}.
20680 @section Interactive
20681 @cindex interaction
20685 @item gnus-novice-user
20686 @vindex gnus-novice-user
20687 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
20688 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
20689 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
20690 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
20693 @item gnus-expert-user
20694 @vindex gnus-expert-user
20695 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
20696 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
20697 matter how strange.
20699 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
20700 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
20701 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
20702 is @code{t} by default.
20704 @item gnus-interactive-exit
20705 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
20706 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
20711 @node Symbolic Prefixes
20712 @section Symbolic Prefixes
20713 @cindex symbolic prefixes
20715 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
20716 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
20717 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
20718 rule of 900 to the current article.
20720 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
20721 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
20722 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
20723 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
20724 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
20725 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
20726 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
20728 @kindex M-i (Summary)
20729 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
20730 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
20731 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
20732 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
20733 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
20734 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
20735 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
20736 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
20738 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
20739 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
20740 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
20742 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
20746 @node Formatting Variables
20747 @section Formatting Variables
20748 @cindex formatting variables
20750 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
20751 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
20752 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
20753 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
20754 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
20757 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
20758 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
20759 lots of percentages everywhere.
20762 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
20763 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
20764 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
20765 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
20766 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
20767 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
20768 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
20769 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
20772 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
20773 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
20774 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
20775 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
20776 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
20777 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
20778 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
20779 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
20781 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
20782 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
20784 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
20785 @findex gnus-update-format
20786 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
20787 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
20788 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
20789 examine the resulting Lisp code to be run to generate the line.
20793 @node Formatting Basics
20794 @subsection Formatting Basics
20796 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
20797 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
20798 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
20800 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
20801 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
20802 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
20803 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
20804 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
20807 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
20808 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
20809 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
20810 less than 4 characters wide.
20812 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
20813 @samp{%&user-date;}.
20816 @node Mode Line Formatting
20817 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
20819 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
20820 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
20821 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
20822 with the following two differences:
20827 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
20830 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
20831 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
20832 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
20833 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
20834 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
20835 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
20836 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
20841 @node Advanced Formatting
20842 @subsection Advanced Formatting
20844 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
20845 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
20846 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
20847 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
20849 These are the valid modifiers:
20854 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
20858 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
20863 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
20866 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
20871 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
20874 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
20877 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
20880 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
20886 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
20891 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
20892 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
20893 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
20894 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
20895 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
20896 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
20897 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
20899 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
20900 last operation, padding.
20902 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
20903 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
20904 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
20905 @xref{Compilation}.
20908 @node User-Defined Specs
20909 @subsection User-Defined Specs
20911 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
20912 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
20913 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
20914 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
20915 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
20916 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
20917 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
20918 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
20919 should protect against that.
20921 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
20922 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
20924 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
20925 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
20926 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
20927 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
20931 @node Formatting Fonts
20932 @subsection Formatting Fonts
20934 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
20935 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
20936 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
20937 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
20940 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
20941 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
20942 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
20943 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
20944 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
20945 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
20947 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
20948 special @code{balloon-help} property set to
20949 @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get
20950 @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*}
20951 variables should be either strings or symbols naming functions that
20952 return a string. When the mouse passes over text with this property
20953 set, a balloon window will appear and display the string. Please
20954 refer to @ref{Tooltips, ,Tooltips, emacs, The Emacs Manual},
20955 (in GNU Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in
20956 XEmacs) for more information on this. (For technical reasons, the
20957 guillemets have been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this
20960 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
20963 ;; @r{Create three face types.}
20964 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
20965 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
20967 ;; @r{We want the article count to be in}
20968 ;; @r{a bold and green face. So we create}
20969 ;; @r{a new face called @code{my-green-bold}.}
20970 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
20971 ;; @r{Set the color.}
20972 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
20973 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
20975 ;; @r{Set the new & fancy format.}
20976 (setq gnus-group-line-format
20977 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
20980 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
20981 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
20983 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
20984 mode-line variables.
20986 @node Positioning Point
20987 @subsection Positioning Point
20989 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
20990 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
20991 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
20993 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
20995 @findex gnus-goto-colon
20996 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
20997 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
20999 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
21000 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
21001 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
21006 @subsection Tabulation
21008 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
21009 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
21010 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
21011 about lining up the following text afterwards.
21013 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs---@samp{%=}. There are two
21014 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
21016 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
21017 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
21018 This is the soft tabulator.
21020 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
21021 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
21022 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
21025 @node Wide Characters
21026 @subsection Wide Characters
21028 Fixed width fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
21029 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
21030 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
21032 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
21033 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
21034 these countries, that's not true.
21036 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
21037 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
21038 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
21039 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
21043 @node Window Layout
21044 @section Window Layout
21045 @cindex window layout
21047 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
21049 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
21050 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
21051 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
21052 @code{t} by default.
21054 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
21055 glitches. Use at your own peril.
21057 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
21058 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
21059 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
21062 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
21063 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
21064 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
21068 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
21069 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
21070 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
21071 possible names is listed below.
21073 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
21074 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
21077 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
21081 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
21082 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
21083 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
21084 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
21085 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
21086 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
21087 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
21088 size spec per split.
21090 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
21091 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
21092 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
21093 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
21094 present) gets focus.
21096 Here's a more complicated example:
21099 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
21100 (summary 0.25 point)
21101 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
21105 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
21106 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
21107 occupy, not a percentage.
21109 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
21110 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
21111 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
21112 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
21113 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
21116 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
21119 (article (horizontal 1.0
21124 (summary 0.25 point)
21129 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
21130 @code{horizontal} thingie?
21132 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
21133 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
21134 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
21135 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
21136 the screen is to be given to this strip.
21138 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
21139 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
21140 lines from the splits.
21142 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
21147 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
21148 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
21149 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
21150 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
21151 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
21152 size = number | frame-params
21153 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
21157 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
21158 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
21159 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
21160 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
21162 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
21163 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
21164 @cindex window height
21165 @cindex window width
21166 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
21167 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
21168 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
21169 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
21170 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
21171 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
21173 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
21174 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
21175 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
21176 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
21178 @findex gnus-configure-frame
21179 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
21180 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
21181 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
21182 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
21183 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
21184 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
21185 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
21186 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
21187 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
21188 configuration list.
21191 (gnus-configure-frame
21195 (article 0.3 point))
21203 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
21204 @code{frame} split:
21207 (gnus-configure-frame
21210 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
21212 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
21213 (user-position . t)
21214 (left . -1) (top . 1))
21219 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
21220 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
21221 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
21222 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
21223 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
21224 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
21225 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
21226 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
21228 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
21229 be found in its default value.
21231 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
21232 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
21233 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
21237 (message (horizontal 1.0
21238 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
21240 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
21245 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
21246 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
21247 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
21252 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
21253 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
21254 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
21255 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
21256 (name . "Message"))
21257 (message 1.0 point))))
21260 @findex gnus-add-configuration
21261 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
21262 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
21263 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
21264 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
21267 (gnus-add-configuration
21268 '(article (vertical 1.0
21270 (summary .25 point)
21274 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
21275 @file{~/.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
21276 Gnus has been loaded.
21278 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
21279 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
21280 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
21281 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
21282 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
21284 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
21285 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
21286 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
21289 @subsection Example Window Configurations
21293 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
21294 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
21309 (gnus-add-configuration
21312 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
21314 (summary 0.16 point)
21317 (gnus-add-configuration
21320 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
21321 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
21327 @node Faces and Fonts
21328 @section Faces and Fonts
21333 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
21334 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
21335 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
21340 @section Compilation
21341 @cindex compilation
21342 @cindex byte-compilation
21344 @findex gnus-compile
21346 Remember all those line format specification variables?
21347 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
21348 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
21349 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
21350 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
21351 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
21354 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
21355 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
21356 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
21357 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
21358 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
21359 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
21360 them into the @file{~/.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
21364 @section Mode Lines
21367 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
21368 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
21369 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
21370 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
21371 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
21372 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
21373 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
21376 @cindex display-time
21378 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
21379 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
21380 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
21381 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
21382 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
21383 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
21384 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
21385 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
21388 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
21390 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
21391 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
21393 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
21394 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
21395 (length display-time-string)))))
21398 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
21399 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
21400 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
21401 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
21402 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
21405 @node Highlighting and Menus
21406 @section Highlighting and Menus
21408 @cindex highlighting
21411 @vindex gnus-visual
21412 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
21413 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
21414 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
21417 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
21418 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
21421 @item group-highlight
21422 Do highlights in the group buffer.
21423 @item summary-highlight
21424 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
21425 @item article-highlight
21426 Do highlights in the article buffer.
21428 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
21430 Create menus in the group buffer.
21432 Create menus in the summary buffers.
21434 Create menus in the article buffer.
21436 Create menus in the browse buffer.
21438 Create menus in the server buffer.
21440 Create menus in the score buffers.
21442 Create menus in all buffers.
21445 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
21446 buffers, you could say something like:
21449 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
21452 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
21455 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
21458 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
21459 in all Gnus buffers.
21461 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
21464 @item gnus-mouse-face
21465 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
21466 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
21467 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
21471 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
21475 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
21476 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
21477 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
21479 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
21480 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
21481 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
21483 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
21484 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
21485 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
21487 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
21488 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
21489 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
21491 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
21492 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
21493 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
21495 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
21496 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
21497 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
21508 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
21509 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
21510 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
21511 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
21512 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
21516 @vindex gnus-carpal
21517 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
21518 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
21519 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
21524 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
21525 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
21526 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
21528 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
21529 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
21530 Face used on buttons.
21532 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
21533 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
21534 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
21536 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
21537 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
21538 Buttons in the group buffer.
21540 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
21541 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
21542 Buttons in the summary buffer.
21544 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
21545 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
21546 Buttons in the server buffer.
21548 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
21549 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
21550 Buttons in the browse buffer.
21553 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
21554 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
21555 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
21563 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
21564 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
21565 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
21566 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
21567 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
21569 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
21570 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
21571 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
21573 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
21574 been idle for thirty minutes:
21577 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
21580 Here's a handler that scans for @acronym{PGP} headers every hour when
21584 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
21587 This @var{time} parameter and that @var{idle} parameter work together
21588 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
21589 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
21591 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
21592 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
21593 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
21594 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
21596 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
21597 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
21598 @var{idle} minutes.
21600 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
21601 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
21604 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
21605 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
21606 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
21608 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
21609 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
21610 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
21611 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
21613 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
21614 your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21616 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
21618 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
21621 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
21622 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
21623 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
21624 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
21625 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
21626 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
21627 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
21628 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
21629 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
21630 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
21631 @file{~/.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
21633 @findex gnus-demon-init
21634 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
21635 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
21636 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
21637 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
21638 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
21640 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
21641 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
21642 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
21651 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
21652 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
21654 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
21655 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
21656 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
21657 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
21660 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
21661 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
21662 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
21663 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
21665 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
21666 this will make spam disappear.
21668 There are some variables to customize, of course:
21671 @item gnus-use-nocem
21672 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
21673 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
21676 @item gnus-nocem-groups
21677 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
21678 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
21681 ("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
21682 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")
21685 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
21686 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
21687 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
21688 people you want to listen to. The default is
21690 ("Automoose-1" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
21691 "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo" "hweede@@snafu.de")
21693 fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
21695 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at@*
21696 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
21698 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
21699 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
21700 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
21701 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
21702 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
21703 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
21704 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
21705 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
21706 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
21707 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
21709 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
21710 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
21713 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
21716 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
21717 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
21720 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
21723 The specs are applied left-to-right.
21726 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
21727 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
21729 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
21730 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
21731 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
21732 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
21734 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
21735 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
21738 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
21740 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
21748 This might be dangerous, though.
21750 @item gnus-nocem-directory
21751 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
21752 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is@*
21753 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
21755 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
21756 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
21757 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
21758 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
21759 might then see old spam.
21761 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
21762 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
21763 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
21764 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
21765 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
21768 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
21769 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
21770 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
21771 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
21775 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
21776 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
21777 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
21778 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
21785 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
21786 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
21787 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
21789 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
21790 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
21791 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
21792 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
21793 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
21794 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
21795 @code{undo} function.
21797 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
21798 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
21799 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
21800 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
21801 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
21802 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
21803 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
21804 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
21805 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
21806 never be totally undoable.
21808 @findex gnus-undo-mode
21809 @vindex gnus-use-undo
21811 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
21812 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
21813 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
21814 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
21818 @node Predicate Specifiers
21819 @section Predicate Specifiers
21820 @cindex predicate specifiers
21822 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
21823 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
21824 to type all that much.
21826 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
21831 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
21832 gnus-article-unread-p)
21835 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
21836 functions all take one parameter.
21838 @findex gnus-make-predicate
21839 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
21840 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
21841 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
21846 @section Moderation
21849 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
21850 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
21851 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
21854 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
21858 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
21861 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
21863 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
21868 You split your incoming mail by matching on
21869 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
21870 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
21873 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
21874 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
21877 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
21878 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
21882 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
21885 (setq gnus-moderated-list
21886 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
21890 @node Image Enhancements
21891 @section Image Enhancements
21893 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21@footnote{Emacs 21 on MS Windows doesn't
21894 support images yet.}, is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has
21895 taken advantage of that.
21898 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
21899 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
21900 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
21901 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
21902 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
21910 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
21911 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
21912 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
21916 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
21917 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
21918 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
21926 Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
21927 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
21928 have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
21929 Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
21931 The variable that controls this is the
21932 @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
21933 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
21934 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
21935 If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
21936 the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
21938 The default action under Emacs 20 is to fork off the @code{display}
21939 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
21940 the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
21941 like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux system.} to
21944 Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
21945 action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
21946 nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
21947 will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
21948 support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
21949 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
21950 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
21951 like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
21953 (Note: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
21961 @vindex gnus-x-face
21962 Face to show X-Face. The colors from this face are used as the
21963 foreground and background colors of the displayed X-Faces. The
21964 default colors are black and white.
21966 @item gnus-face-properties-alist
21967 @vindex gnus-face-properties-alist
21968 Alist of image types and properties applied to Face (@pxref{Face}) and
21969 X-Face images. The default value is @code{((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face))
21970 (png . nil))} for Emacs or @code{((xface . (:face gnus-x-face)))} for
21971 XEmacs. Here are examples:
21974 ;; Specify the altitude of Face and X-Face images in the From header.
21975 (setq gnus-face-properties-alist
21976 '((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face :ascent 80))
21977 (png . (:ascent 80))))
21979 ;; Show Face and X-Face images as pressed buttons.
21980 (setq gnus-face-properties-alist
21981 '((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face :relief -2))
21982 (png . (:relief -2))))
21985 @pxref{Image Descriptors, ,Image Descriptors, elisp, The Emacs Lisp
21986 Reference Manual} for the valid properties for various image types.
21987 Currently, @code{pbm} is used for X-Face images and @code{png} is used
21988 for Face images in Emacs. Only the @code{:face} property is effective
21989 on the @code{xface} image type in XEmacs if it is built with the
21990 @samp{libcompface} library.
21993 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
21994 easier insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages.
21996 @findex gnus-random-x-face
21997 @vindex gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command
21998 @vindex gnus-x-face-directory
21999 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
22000 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
22001 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
22002 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
22003 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
22004 header data as a string.
22006 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
22007 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
22008 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
22009 randomly generated data.
22011 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
22012 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command
22013 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
22014 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
22015 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
22017 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
22018 like the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
22021 (setq message-required-news-headers
22022 (nconc message-required-news-headers
22023 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
22026 Using the last function would be something like this:
22029 (setq message-required-news-headers
22030 (nconc message-required-news-headers
22031 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
22032 (gnus-x-face-from-file
22033 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
22041 @c #### FIXME: faces and x-faces'implementations should really be harmonized.
22043 @code{Face} headers are essentially a funkier version of @code{X-Face}
22044 ones. They describe a 48x48 pixel colored image that's supposed to
22045 represent the author of the message.
22048 @findex gnus-article-display-face
22049 The contents of a @code{Face} header must be a base64 encoded PNG image.
22050 See @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/circus/face/} for the precise
22053 The @code{gnus-face-properties-alist} variable affects the appearance of
22054 displayed Face images. @xref{X-Face}.
22056 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
22057 easier insertion of Face headers in outgoing messages.
22059 @findex gnus-convert-png-to-face
22060 @code{gnus-convert-png-to-face} takes a 48x48 PNG image, no longer than
22061 726 bytes long, and converts it to a face.
22063 @findex gnus-face-from-file
22064 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-face-command
22065 @code{gnus-face-from-file} takes a JPEG file as the parameter, and then
22066 converts the file to Face format by using the
22067 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-face-command} shell command.
22069 Here's how you would typically use this function. Put something like the
22070 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
22073 (setq message-required-news-headers
22074 (nconc message-required-news-headers
22075 (list '(Face . (lambda ()
22076 (gnus-face-from-file "~/face.jpg"))))))
22081 @subsection Smileys
22086 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
22091 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
22092 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
22094 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
22095 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
22098 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
22101 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{8-)}, @samp{:-(} and
22102 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
22103 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
22104 text and maps that to file names.
22106 @vindex smiley-regexp-alist
22107 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist}
22108 variable. The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched;
22109 the second element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by
22110 the picture; and the third element is the name of the file to be
22113 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
22118 @item smiley-data-directory
22119 @vindex smiley-data-directory
22120 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
22122 @item gnus-smiley-file-types
22123 @vindex gnus-smiley-file-types
22124 List of suffixes on smiley file names to try.
22138 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
22139 good way to do so. It's also a great way to impress people staring
22140 over your shoulder as you read news.
22142 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
22151 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
22152 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
22153 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
22154 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
22155 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
22156 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
22157 @code{GIF} formats.
22160 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
22161 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases,
22162 point your Web browser at
22163 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
22165 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
22166 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
22168 To enable displaying picons, simply make sure that
22169 @code{gnus-picon-databases} points to the directory containing the
22172 The following variables offer control over where things are located.
22176 @item gnus-picon-databases
22177 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
22178 The location of the picons database. This is a list of directories
22179 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
22180 subdirectories. Defaults to @code{("/usr/lib/picon"
22181 "/usr/local/faces")}.
22183 @item gnus-picon-news-directories
22184 @vindex gnus-picon-news-directories
22185 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
22186 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
22188 @item gnus-picon-user-directories
22189 @vindex gnus-picon-user-directories
22190 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for user
22191 faces. @code{("users" "usenix" "local" "misc")} is the default.
22193 @item gnus-picon-domain-directories
22194 @vindex gnus-picon-domain-directories
22195 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
22196 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
22197 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
22199 @item gnus-picon-file-types
22200 @vindex gnus-picon-file-types
22201 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
22202 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not built-in your Emacs.
22208 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
22211 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
22212 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
22213 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
22214 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
22215 unusual directory structure.
22217 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
22218 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
22219 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
22220 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
22222 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
22223 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
22224 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
22225 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
22226 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
22227 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
22229 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
22230 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
22231 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
22236 @subsubsection Toolbar
22240 @item gnus-use-toolbar
22241 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
22242 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
22243 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
22244 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
22246 @item gnus-group-toolbar
22247 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
22248 The toolbar in the group buffer.
22250 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
22251 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
22252 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
22254 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
22255 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
22256 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
22267 @node Fuzzy Matching
22268 @section Fuzzy Matching
22269 @cindex fuzzy matching
22271 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
22272 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
22274 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
22275 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
22276 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
22278 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
22279 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
22280 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
22281 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
22282 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
22285 @node Thwarting Email Spam
22286 @section Thwarting Email Spam
22290 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22292 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
22293 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
22294 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
22295 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
22296 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
22297 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
22298 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
22299 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
22302 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
22303 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
22304 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
22305 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
22306 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
22307 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
22309 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
22312 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
22313 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
22314 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
22315 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
22316 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
22317 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
22320 @node The problem of spam
22321 @subsection The problem of spam
22323 @cindex spam filtering approaches
22324 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
22326 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22328 First, some background on spam.
22330 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
22331 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it
22332 exists because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail,
22333 so only a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to
22334 make it worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most
22335 common spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for
22336 further spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers},
22337 but terms like @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, @emph{sociopaths}, and
22338 @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
22340 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
22341 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
22342 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
22343 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
22344 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
22345 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
22346 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
22347 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
22348 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
22351 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering, at the mail
22352 server or when you sort through incoming mail. If you get 200 spam
22353 messages per day from @samp{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you block
22354 @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about @samp{VIAGRA}, you
22355 discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the message. If you get
22356 lots of spam from Bulgaria, for example, you try to filter all mail
22357 from Bulgarian IPs.
22359 This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate e-mail. The
22360 risks of blocking a whole country (Bulgaria, Norway, Nigeria, China,
22361 etc.) or even a continent (Asia, Africa, Europe, etc.) from contacting
22362 you should be obvious, so don't do it if you have the choice.
22364 In another instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest has
22365 been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it @strong{contained}
22366 words that were common in spam messages. Nevertheless, in isolated
22367 cases, with great care, direct filtering of mail can be useful.
22369 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
22370 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
22371 @var{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @var{X} in
22372 Ghana, Estonia, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
22373 @var{N} systems enter @var{X} or the spam e-mail from @var{X} into a
22374 database. The criteria for spam detection vary---it may be the number
22375 of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When a user
22376 of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a message is
22377 spam, he consults one of those @var{N} systems.
22379 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
22380 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
22381 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
22382 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
22383 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
22384 sending spam, and their web sites and mailing lists have been shut
22385 down for some time because of the incident.
22387 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
22388 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
22389 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
22390 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
22391 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
22392 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
22393 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
22394 to store the database of spam analyses. Statistical analysis on the
22395 server is gaining popularity. This has the advantage of letting the
22396 user Just Read Mail, but has the disadvantage that it's harder to tell
22397 the server that it has misclassified mail.
22399 Fighting spam is not easy, no matter what anyone says. There is no
22400 magic switch that will distinguish Viagra ads from Mom's e-mails.
22401 Even people are having a hard time telling spam apart from non-spam,
22402 because spammers are actively looking to fool us into thinking they
22403 are Mom, essentially. Spamming is irritating, irresponsible, and
22404 idiotic behavior from a bunch of people who think the world owes them
22405 a favor. We hope the following sections will help you in fighting the
22408 @node Anti-Spam Basics
22409 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
22413 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22415 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
22416 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
22418 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
22419 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
22420 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
22421 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
22422 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
22423 part of the mail address.)
22426 (setq message-default-news-headers
22427 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
22430 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
22431 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
22435 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
22436 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
22437 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
22442 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
22443 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
22444 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
22445 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
22447 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @acronym{SMTP} server
22448 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
22449 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
22450 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
22451 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
22452 your fancy split rule in this way:
22457 (to "larsi" "misc")
22461 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
22462 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
22463 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
22464 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
22465 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
22467 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
22468 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
22469 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
22470 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
22472 Be careful with this approach. Spammers are wise to it.
22476 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
22477 @cindex SpamAssassin
22478 @cindex Vipul's Razor
22481 The days where the hints in the previous section were sufficient in
22482 avoiding spam are coming to an end. There are many tools out there
22483 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
22484 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
22485 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
22486 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
22487 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
22489 Note that this section does not involve the @code{spam.el} package,
22490 which is discussed in the next section. If you don't care for all
22491 the features of @code{spam.el}, you can make do with these simple
22494 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
22495 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
22496 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
22497 Specifiers}) follow.
22501 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
22505 "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
22508 Once you manage to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
22509 the mail contain e.g.@: a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
22510 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
22513 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
22517 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
22520 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
22521 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
22525 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
22526 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
22527 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
22528 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
22531 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
22533 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
22537 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
22538 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
22542 Note that with the nnimap back end, message bodies will not be
22543 downloaded by default. You need to set
22544 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
22545 (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}).
22547 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
22548 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
22549 spam. And here is the nifty function:
22552 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
22553 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
22555 (gnus-summary-show-raw-article)
22556 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d")
22557 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
22561 @subsection Hashcash
22564 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
22565 costly and demonstrably unique for each message they send. This has
22566 the obvious drawback that you cannot rely on everyone in the world
22567 using this technique, since it is not part of the Internet standards,
22568 but it may be useful in smaller communities.
22570 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
22571 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
22572 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
22573 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
22574 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
22575 instead prefers that everyone you contact through e-mail supports the
22576 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
22577 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
22578 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
22579 one of them separately.
22582 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
22583 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
22584 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:} header.
22585 For more details, and for the external application @code{hashcash} you
22586 need to install to use this feature, see
22587 @uref{http://www.hashcash.org/}. Even more information can be found
22588 at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
22590 If you wish to generate hashcash for each message you send, you can
22591 customize @code{message-generate-hashcash} (@pxref{Mail Headers, ,Mail
22592 Headers,message, The Message Manual}), as in:
22595 (setq message-generate-hashcash t)
22598 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
22602 @item hashcash-default-payment
22603 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
22604 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
22605 should consist of. By default this is 20. Suggested useful values
22608 @item hashcash-payment-alist
22609 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
22610 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
22611 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(@var{addr}
22612 @var{amount})} cells, where @var{addr} is the receiver (email address
22613 or newsgroup) and @var{amount} is the number of bits in the collision
22614 that is needed. It can also contain @samp{(@var{addr} @var{string}
22615 @var{amount})} cells, where the @var{string} is the string to use
22616 (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
22618 @item hashcash-path
22619 @vindex hashcash-path
22620 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed. This variable should
22621 be automatically set by @code{executable-find}, but if it's @code{nil}
22622 (usually because the @code{hashcash} binary is not in your path)
22623 you'll get a warning when you check hashcash payments and an error
22624 when you generate hashcash payments.
22628 Gnus can verify hashcash cookies, although this can also be done by
22629 hand customized mail filtering scripts. To verify a hashcash cookie
22630 in a message, use the @code{mail-check-payment} function in the
22631 @code{hashcash.el} library. You can also use the @code{spam.el}
22632 package with the @code{spam-use-hashcash} back end to validate hashcash
22633 cookies in incoming mail and filter mail accordingly (@pxref{Anti-spam
22634 Hashcash Payments}).
22636 @node Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
22637 @subsection Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
22638 @cindex spam filtering
22641 The idea behind @code{spam.el} is to have a control center for spam detection
22642 and filtering in Gnus. To that end, @code{spam.el} does two things: it
22643 filters new mail, and it analyzes mail known to be spam or ham.
22644 @dfn{Ham} is the name used throughout @code{spam.el} to indicate
22647 Make sure you read the section on the @code{spam.el} sequence of
22648 events. See @xref{Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events}.
22650 @cindex spam-initialize
22651 To use @code{spam.el}, you @strong{must} run the function
22652 @code{spam-initialize} to autoload @file{spam.el} and to install the
22653 @code{spam.el} hooks. There is one exception: if you use the
22654 @code{spam-use-stat} (@pxref{spam-stat spam filtering}) setting, you
22655 should turn it on before @code{spam-initialize}:
22658 (setq spam-use-stat t) ;; if needed
22662 So, what happens when you load @file{spam.el}?
22664 First, some hooks will get installed by @code{spam-initialize}. There
22665 are some hooks for @code{spam-stat} so it can save its databases, and
22666 there are hooks so interesting things will happen when you enter and
22667 leave a group. More on the sequence of events later (@pxref{Spam
22668 ELisp Package Sequence of Events}).
22670 You get the following keyboard commands:
22680 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
22681 @code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}.
22683 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{$} mark.
22684 Whenever you see a spam article, make sure to mark its summary line
22685 with @kbd{M-d} before leaving the group. This is done automatically
22686 for unread articles in @emph{spam} groups.
22692 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
22693 @code{spam-bogofilter-score}.
22695 You must have Bogofilter installed for that command to work properly.
22701 Also, when you load @file{spam.el}, you will be able to customize its
22702 variables. Try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{spam} variable
22706 * Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events::
22707 * Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail::
22708 * Spam ELisp Package Global Variables::
22709 * Spam ELisp Package Sorting and Score Display in Summary Buffer::
22710 * Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples::
22711 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
22712 * BBDB Whitelists::
22713 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
22714 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
22716 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
22718 * SpamAssassin back end::
22719 * ifile spam filtering::
22720 * spam-stat spam filtering::
22722 * Extending the Spam ELisp package::
22725 @node Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events
22726 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events
22727 @cindex spam filtering
22728 @cindex spam filtering sequence of events
22730 You must read this section to understand how @code{spam.el} works.
22731 Do not skip, speed-read, or glance through this section.
22733 There are two @emph{contact points}, if you will, between
22734 @code{spam.el} and the rest of Gnus: checking new mail for spam, and
22737 Getting new mail in Gnus is done in one of two ways. You can either
22738 split your incoming mail or you can classify new articles as ham or
22739 spam when you enter the group.
22741 Splitting incoming mail is better suited to mail back ends such as
22742 @code{nnml} or @code{nnimap} where new mail appears in a single file
22743 called a @dfn{Spool File}. See @xref{Spam ELisp Package Filtering of
22746 @vindex gnus-spam-autodetect
22747 @vindex gnus-spam-autodetect-methods
22748 For back ends such as @code{nntp} there is no incoming mail spool, so
22749 an alternate mechanism must be used. This may also happen for
22750 back ends where the server is in charge of splitting incoming mail, and
22751 Gnus does not do further splitting. The @code{spam-autodetect} and
22752 @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group parameters (accessible with
22753 @kbd{G c} and @kbd{G p} as usual), and the corresponding variables
22754 @code{gnus-spam-autodetect} and @code{gnus-spam-autodetect-methods}
22755 (accessible with @kbd{M-x customize-variable} as usual) can help.
22757 When @code{spam-autodetect} is used (you can turn it on for a
22758 group/topic or wholesale by regular expression matches, as needed), it
22759 hooks into the process of entering a group. Thus, entering a group
22760 with unseen or unread articles becomes the substitute for checking
22761 incoming mail. Whether only unseen articles or all unread articles
22762 will be processed is determined by the
22763 @code{spam-autodetect-recheck-messages}. When set to @code{t}, unread
22764 messages will be rechecked. You should probably stick with the
22765 default of only checking unseen messages.
22767 @code{spam-autodetect} grants the user at once more and less control
22768 of spam filtering. The user will have more control over each group's
22769 spam methods, so for instance the @samp{ding} group may have
22770 @code{spam-use-BBDB} as the autodetection method, while the
22771 @samp{suspect} group may have the @code{spam-use-blacklist} and
22772 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} methods enabled. Every article detected to
22773 be spam will be marked with the spam mark @samp{$} and processed on
22774 exit from the group as normal spam. The user has less control over
22775 the @emph{sequence} of checks, as he might with @code{spam-split}.
22777 When the newly split mail goes into groups, or messages are
22778 autodetected to be ham or spam, those groups must be exited (after
22779 entering, if needed) for further spam processing to happen. It
22780 matters whether the group is considered a ham group, a spam group, or
22781 is unclassified, based on its @code{spam-content} parameter
22782 (@pxref{Spam ELisp Package Global Variables}). Spam groups have the
22783 additional characteristic that, when entered, any unseen or unread
22784 articles (depending on the @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam}
22785 variable) will be marked as spam. Thus, mail split into a spam group
22786 gets automatically marked as spam when you enter the group.
22788 Thus, when you exit a group, the @code{spam-processors} are applied,
22789 if any are set, and the processed mail is moved to the
22790 @code{ham-process-destination} or the @code{spam-process-destination}
22791 depending on the article's classification. If the
22792 @code{ham-process-destination} or the @code{spam-process-destination},
22793 whichever is appropriate, are @code{nil}, the article is left in the
22796 If a spam is found in any group (this can be changed to only non-spam
22797 groups with @code{spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only}), it is
22798 processed by the active @code{spam-processors} (@pxref{Spam ELisp
22799 Package Global Variables}) when the group is exited. Furthermore, the
22800 spam is moved to the @code{spam-process-destination} (@pxref{Spam
22801 ELisp Package Global Variables}) for further training or deletion.
22802 You have to load the @code{gnus-registry.el} package and enable the
22803 @code{spam-log-to-registry} variable if you want spam to be processed
22804 no more than once. Thus, spam is detected and processed everywhere,
22805 which is what most people want. If the
22806 @code{spam-process-destination} is @code{nil}, the spam is marked as
22807 expired, which is usually the right thing to do.
22809 If spam can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
22810 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
22812 If a ham mail is found in a ham group, as determined by the
22813 @code{ham-marks} parameter, it is processed as ham by the active ham
22814 @code{spam-processor} when the group is exited. With the variables
22815 @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} and
22816 @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups} the behavior can be further
22817 altered so ham found anywhere can be processed. You have to load the
22818 @code{gnus-registry.el} package and enable the
22819 @code{spam-log-to-registry} variable if you want ham to be processed
22820 no more than once. Thus, ham is detected and processed only when
22821 necessary, which is what most people want. More on this in
22822 @xref{Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples}.
22824 If ham can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
22825 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
22827 If all this seems confusing, don't worry. Soon it will be as natural
22828 as typing Lisp one-liners on a neural interface@dots{} err, sorry, that's
22829 50 years in the future yet. Just trust us, it's not so bad.
22831 @node Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail
22832 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail
22833 @cindex spam filtering
22834 @cindex spam filtering incoming mail
22837 To use the @code{spam.el} facilities for incoming mail filtering, you
22838 must add the following to your fancy split list
22839 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}:
22845 Note that the fancy split may be called @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
22846 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on whether you use the nnmail or
22847 nnimap back ends to retrieve your mail.
22849 Also, @code{spam-split} will not modify incoming mail in any way.
22851 The @code{spam-split} function will process incoming mail and send the
22852 mail considered to be spam into the group name given by the variable
22853 @code{spam-split-group}. By default that group name is @samp{spam},
22854 but you can customize @code{spam-split-group}. Make sure the contents
22855 of @code{spam-split-group} are an @emph{unqualified} group name, for
22856 instance in an @code{nnimap} server @samp{your-server} the value
22857 @samp{spam} will turn out to be @samp{nnimap+your-server:spam}. The
22858 value @samp{nnimap+server:spam}, therefore, is wrong and will
22859 actually give you the group
22860 @samp{nnimap+your-server:nnimap+server:spam} which may or may not
22861 work depending on your server's tolerance for strange group names.
22863 You can also give @code{spam-split} a parameter,
22864 e.g. @code{spam-use-regex-headers} or @code{"maybe-spam"}. Why is
22867 Take these split rules (with @code{spam-use-regex-headers} and
22868 @code{spam-use-blackholes} set):
22871 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
22872 (any "ding" "ding")
22874 ;; @r{default mailbox}
22878 Now, the problem is that you want all ding messages to make it to the
22879 ding folder. But that will let obvious spam (for example, spam
22880 detected by SpamAssassin, and @code{spam-use-regex-headers}) through,
22881 when it's sent to the ding list. On the other hand, some messages to
22882 the ding list are from a mail server in the blackhole list, so the
22883 invocation of @code{spam-split} can't be before the ding rule.
22885 You can let SpamAssassin headers supersede ding rules, but all other
22886 @code{spam-split} rules (including a second invocation of the
22887 regex-headers check) will be after the ding rule:
22892 ;; @r{all spam detected by @code{spam-use-regex-headers} goes to @samp{regex-spam}}
22893 (: spam-split "regex-spam" 'spam-use-regex-headers)
22894 (any "ding" "ding")
22895 ;; @r{all other spam detected by spam-split goes to @code{spam-split-group}}
22897 ;; @r{default mailbox}
22901 This lets you invoke specific @code{spam-split} checks depending on
22902 your particular needs, and to target the results of those checks to a
22903 particular spam group. You don't have to throw all mail into all the
22904 spam tests. Another reason why this is nice is that messages to
22905 mailing lists you have rules for don't have to have resource-intensive
22906 blackhole checks performed on them. You could also specify different
22907 spam checks for your nnmail split vs. your nnimap split. Go crazy.
22909 You should still have specific checks such as
22910 @code{spam-use-regex-headers} set to @code{t}, even if you
22911 specifically invoke @code{spam-split} with the check. The reason is
22912 that when loading @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done
22913 depending on what @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set. This
22914 is usually not critical, though.
22916 @emph{Note for IMAP users}
22918 The boolean variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body} needs to be
22919 set, if you want to split based on the whole message instead of just
22920 the headers. By default, the nnimap back end will only retrieve the
22921 message headers. If you use a @emph{statistical} filter,
22922 e.g. @code{spam-check-bogofilter}, @code{spam-check-ifile}, or
22923 @code{spam-check-stat} (the splitters that can benefit from the full
22924 message body), this variable will be set automatically. It is not set
22925 for non-statistical back ends by default because it will slow
22926 @acronym{IMAP} down.
22928 @xref{Splitting in IMAP}.
22930 @node Spam ELisp Package Global Variables
22931 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Global Variables
22932 @cindex spam filtering
22933 @cindex spam filtering variables
22934 @cindex spam variables
22937 @vindex gnus-spam-process-newsgroups
22938 The concepts of ham processors and spam processors are very important.
22939 Ham processors and spam processors for a group can be set with the
22940 @code{spam-process} group parameter, or the
22941 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. Ham processors take
22942 mail known to be non-spam (@emph{ham}) and process it in some way so
22943 that later similar mail will also be considered non-spam. Spam
22944 processors take mail known to be spam and process it so similar spam
22945 will be detected later.
22947 The format of the spam or ham processor entry used to be a symbol,
22948 but now it is a @sc{cons} cell. See the individual spam processor entries
22949 for more information.
22951 @vindex gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
22952 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
22953 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
22954 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
22955 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
22956 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
22957 by customizing the corresponding variable
22958 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
22959 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
22960 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
22961 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
22962 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
22963 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
22964 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
22967 @vindex gnus-spam-mark
22969 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
22970 they get the @samp{$} mark (@code{gnus-spam-mark}) when you enter the
22971 group. If you have seen a message, had it marked as spam, then
22972 unmarked it, it won't be marked as spam when you enter the group
22973 thereafter. You can disable that behavior, so all unread messages
22974 will get the @samp{$} mark, if you set the
22975 @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam} parameter to @code{nil}. You
22976 should remove the @samp{$} mark when you are in the group summary
22977 buffer for every message that is not spam after all. To remove the
22978 @samp{$} mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to ``unread'' the article, or
22979 @kbd{d} for declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a
22980 group, all spam-marked (@samp{$}) articles are sent to a spam
22981 processor which will study them as spam samples.
22983 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
22984 @code{ham-marks} group parameter gets overridden below, marks @samp{R}
22985 and @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
22986 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
22987 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
22988 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
22989 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
22990 should then adjust the @code{ham-marks} group parameter.
22993 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
22994 marks you want to consider ham. By default, the list contains the
22995 deleted, read, killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks (the idea is
22996 that these articles have been read, but are not spam). It can be
22997 useful to also include the tick mark in the ham marks. It is not
22998 recommended to make the unread mark a ham mark, because it normally
22999 indicates a lack of classification. But you can do it, and we'll be
23004 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
23005 marks you want to consider spam. By default, the list contains only
23006 the spam mark. It is not recommended to change that, but you can if
23007 you really want to.
23010 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
23011 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
23012 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
23013 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
23014 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
23015 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{$},
23018 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
23019 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
23020 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
23021 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
23022 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
23023 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
23024 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
23025 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
23026 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with @kbd{M-x
23027 customize-variable @key{RET} gnus-ham-process-destinations}). Each
23028 group name list is a standard Lisp list, if you prefer to customize
23029 the variable manually. If the @code{ham-process-destination}
23030 parameter is not set, ham articles are left in place. If the
23031 @code{spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group} parameter is
23032 set, the ham articles are marked as unread before being moved.
23034 If ham can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
23035 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
23037 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
23038 expression! This enables you to send your ham to a regular mail
23039 group and to a @emph{ham training} group.
23041 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
23042 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
23044 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups
23045 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} is
23046 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in spam groups
23047 to be processed. Normally this is not done, you are expected instead
23048 to send your ham to a ham group and process it there.
23050 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups
23051 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups} is
23052 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in non-ham (spam
23053 or unclassified) groups to be processed. Normally this is not done,
23054 you are expected instead to send your ham to a ham group and process
23057 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
23058 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
23059 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
23060 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
23061 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
23062 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
23063 customize this variable with @kbd{M-x customize-variable @key{RET}
23064 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). Each group name list is a standard
23065 Lisp list, if you prefer to customize the variable manually. If the
23066 @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set, the spam
23067 articles are only expired. The group name is fully qualified, meaning
23068 that if you see @samp{nntp:servername} before the group name in the
23069 group buffer then you need it here as well.
23071 If spam can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
23072 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
23074 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
23075 expression! This enables you to send your spam to multiple @emph{spam
23078 @vindex spam-log-to-registry
23079 The problem with processing ham and spam is that Gnus doesn't track
23080 this processing by default. Enable the @code{spam-log-to-registry}
23081 variable so @code{spam.el} will use @code{gnus-registry.el} to track
23082 what articles have been processed, and avoid processing articles
23083 multiple times. Keep in mind that if you limit the number of registry
23084 entries, this won't work as well as it does without a limit.
23086 @vindex spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam
23087 Set this variable if you want only unseen articles in spam groups to
23088 be marked as spam. By default, it is set. If you set it to
23089 @code{nil}, unread articles will also be marked as spam.
23091 @vindex spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group
23092 Set this variable if you want ham to be unmarked before it is moved
23093 out of the spam group. This is very useful when you use something
23094 like the tick mark @samp{!} to mark ham---the article will be placed
23095 in your @code{ham-process-destination}, unmarked as if it came fresh
23096 from the mail server.
23098 @vindex spam-autodetect-recheck-messages
23099 When autodetecting spam, this variable tells @code{spam.el} whether
23100 only unseen articles or all unread articles should be checked for
23101 spam. It is recommended that you leave it off.
23103 @node Spam ELisp Package Sorting and Score Display in Summary Buffer
23104 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Sorting and Score Display in Summary Buffer
23105 @cindex spam scoring
23106 @cindex spam sorting
23107 @cindex spam score summary buffer
23108 @cindex spam sort summary buffer
23111 You can display the spam score of articles in your summary buffer, and
23112 you can sort articles by their spam score.
23114 First you need to decide which back end you will be using. If you use
23115 the @code{spam-use-spamassassin},
23116 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}, or @code{spam-use-regex-headers}
23117 back end, the @code{X-Spam-Status} header will be used. If you use
23118 @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, the @code{X-Bogosity} header will be used.
23119 If you use @code{spam-use-crm114}, any header that matches the CRM114
23120 score format will be used. As long as you set the appropriate back end
23121 variable to t @emph{before} you load @file{spam.el}, you will be
23122 fine. @code{spam.el} will automatically add the right header to the
23123 internal Gnus list of required headers.
23125 To show the spam score in your summary buffer, add this line to your
23126 @code{gnus.el} file (note @code{spam.el} does not do that by default
23127 so it won't override any existing @code{S} formats you may have).
23130 (defalias 'gnus-user-format-function-S 'spam-user-format-function-S)
23133 Now just set your summary line format to use @code{%uS}. Here's an
23134 example that formats the spam score in a 5-character field:
23137 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
23138 "%U%R %10&user-date; $%5uS %6k %B %(%4L: %*%-25,25a%) %s \n")
23141 Finally, to sort by spam status, either do it globally:
23145 gnus-show-threads nil
23146 gnus-article-sort-functions
23147 '(spam-article-sort-by-spam-status))
23150 or per group (@pxref{Sorting the Summary Buffer}).
23152 @node Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples
23153 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples
23154 @cindex spam filtering
23155 @cindex spam filtering configuration examples
23156 @cindex spam configuration examples
23159 @subsubheading Ted's setup
23161 From Ted Zlatanov <tzz@@lifelogs.com>.
23163 ;; @r{for @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent} and spam autodetection}
23164 ;; @r{see @file{gnus-registry.el} for more information}
23165 (gnus-registry-initialize)
23168 ;; @r{I like @kbd{C-s} for marking spam}
23169 (define-key gnus-summary-mode-map "\C-s" 'gnus-summary-mark-as-spam)
23172 spam-log-to-registry t ; @r{for spam autodetection}
23174 spam-use-regex-headers t ; @r{catch X-Spam-Flag (SpamAssassin)}
23175 ;; @r{all groups with @samp{spam} in the name contain spam}
23176 gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
23177 '(("spam" gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
23178 ;; @r{see documentation for these}
23179 spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only nil
23180 spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam t
23181 spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group t
23182 nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
23183 ;; @r{understand what this does before you copy it to your own setup!}
23184 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
23185 ;; @r{trace references to parents and put in their group}
23186 (: gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent)
23187 ;; @r{this will catch server-side SpamAssassin tags}
23188 (: spam-split 'spam-use-regex-headers)
23189 (any "ding" "ding")
23190 ;; @r{note that spam by default will go to @samp{spam}}
23192 ;; @r{default mailbox}
23195 ;; @r{my parameters, set with @kbd{G p}}
23197 ;; @r{all nnml groups, and all nnimap groups except}
23198 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} and}
23199 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam}: any spam goes to nnimap training,}
23200 ;; @r{because it must have been detected manually}
23202 ((spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
23204 ;; @r{all @acronym{NNTP} groups}
23205 ;; @r{autodetect spam with the blacklist and ham with the BBDB}
23206 ((spam-autodetect-methods spam-use-blacklist spam-use-BBDB)
23207 ;; @r{send all spam to the training group}
23208 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
23210 ;; @r{only some @acronym{NNTP} groups, where I want to autodetect spam}
23211 ((spam-autodetect . t))
23213 ;; @r{my nnimap @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam} group}
23215 ;; @r{this is a spam group}
23216 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam)
23218 ;; @r{any spam (which happens when I enter for all unseen messages,}
23219 ;; @r{because of the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} setting above), goes to}
23220 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} unless I mark it as ham}
23222 (spam-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train")
23224 ;; @r{any ham goes to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail} folder, but}
23225 ;; @r{also to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham} folder for training}
23227 (ham-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail"
23228 "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham")
23229 ;; @r{in this group, only @samp{!} marks are ham}
23231 (gnus-ticked-mark))
23232 ;; @r{remembers senders in the blacklist on the way out---this is}
23233 ;; @r{definitely not needed, it just makes me feel better}
23234 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist)))
23236 ;; @r{Later, on the @acronym{IMAP} server I use the @samp{train} group for training}
23237 ;; @r{SpamAssassin to recognize spam, and the @samp{trainham} group fora}
23238 ;; @r{recognizing ham---but Gnus has nothing to do with it.}
23242 @subsubheading Using @code{spam.el} on an IMAP server with a statistical filter on the server
23243 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
23245 My provider has set up bogofilter (in combination with @acronym{DCC}) on
23246 the mail server (@acronym{IMAP}). Recognized spam goes to
23247 @samp{spam.detected}, the rest goes through the normal filter rules,
23248 i.e. to @samp{some.folder} or to @samp{INBOX}. Training on false
23249 positives or negatives is done by copying or moving the article to
23250 @samp{training.ham} or @samp{training.spam} respectively. A cron job on
23251 the server feeds those to bogofilter with the suitable ham or spam
23252 options and deletes them from the @samp{training.ham} and
23253 @samp{training.spam} folders.
23255 With the following entries in @code{gnus-parameters}, @code{spam.el}
23256 does most of the job for me:
23259 ("nnimap:spam\\.detected"
23260 (gnus-article-sort-functions '(gnus-article-sort-by-chars))
23261 (ham-process-destination "nnimap:INBOX" "nnimap:training.ham")
23262 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
23263 ("nnimap:\\(INBOX\\|other-folders\\)"
23264 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap:training.spam")
23265 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham))
23270 @item @b{The Spam folder:}
23272 In the folder @samp{spam.detected}, I have to check for false positives
23273 (i.e. legitimate mails, that were wrongly judged as spam by
23274 bogofilter or DCC).
23276 Because of the @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam} entry, all
23277 messages are marked as spam (with @code{$}). When I find a false
23278 positive, I mark the message with some other ham mark (@code{ham-marks},
23279 @ref{Spam ELisp Package Global Variables}). On group exit, those
23280 messages are copied to both groups, @samp{INBOX} (where I want to have
23281 the article) and @samp{training.ham} (for training bogofilter) and
23282 deleted from the @samp{spam.detected} folder.
23284 The @code{gnus-article-sort-by-chars} entry simplifies detection of
23285 false positives for me. I receive lots of worms (sweN, @dots{}), that all
23286 have a similar size. Grouping them by size (i.e. chars) makes finding
23287 other false positives easier. (Of course worms aren't @i{spam}
23288 (@acronym{UCE}, @acronym{UBE}) strictly speaking. Anyhow, bogofilter is
23289 an excellent tool for filtering those unwanted mails for me.)
23291 @item @b{Ham folders:}
23293 In my ham folders, I just hit @kbd{S x}
23294 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) whenever I see an unrecognized spam
23295 mail (false negative). On group exit, those messages are moved to
23296 @samp{training.ham}.
23299 @subsubheading Reporting spam articles in Gmane groups with @code{spam-report.el}
23301 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
23303 With following entry in @code{gnus-parameters}, @kbd{S x}
23304 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) marks articles in @code{gmane.*}
23305 groups as spam and reports the to Gmane at group exit:
23309 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane)))
23312 Additionally, I use @code{(setq spam-report-gmane-use-article-number nil)}
23313 because I don't read the groups directly from news.gmane.org, but
23314 through my local news server (leafnode). I.e. the article numbers are
23315 not the same as on news.gmane.org, thus @code{spam-report.el} has to check
23316 the @code{X-Report-Spam} header to find the correct number.
23318 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
23319 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
23320 @cindex spam filtering
23321 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
23322 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
23325 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
23327 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
23328 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
23329 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
23330 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
23335 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
23337 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
23338 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
23339 whitelist will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
23340 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the whitelist, their
23341 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
23345 @defvar spam-use-whitelist-exclusive
23347 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists as an
23348 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
23349 unless the sender is in the whitelist. Use with care.
23353 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
23355 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23356 customizing the group parameters or the
23357 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23358 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
23359 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
23363 Instead of the obsolete
23364 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist}, it is recommended
23365 that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-blacklist)}. Everything will work
23366 the same way, we promise.
23370 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
23372 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23373 customizing the group parameters or the
23374 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23375 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
23376 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
23381 Instead of the obsolete
23382 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist}, it is recommended
23383 that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-whitelist)}. Everything will work
23384 the same way, we promise.
23388 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
23389 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
23390 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
23391 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
23392 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
23394 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
23395 legitimate. All messages from whitelisted addresses are considered
23396 non-spam. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the
23397 Emacs regular expression syntax.
23399 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
23400 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
23401 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
23402 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
23403 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
23404 @file{blacklist} respectively.
23406 @node BBDB Whitelists
23407 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
23408 @cindex spam filtering
23409 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
23410 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
23413 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
23415 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
23416 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted
23417 addresses, without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded
23418 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Messages whose senders are
23419 not in the BBDB will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
23420 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the BBDB, their
23421 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
23425 @defvar spam-use-BBDB-exclusive
23427 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use the BBDB as an
23428 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
23429 unless the sender is in the BBDB. Use with care. Only sender
23430 addresses in the BBDB will be allowed through; all others will be
23431 classified as spammers.
23433 While @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} @emph{can} be used as an alias
23434 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} as far as @code{spam.el} is concerned, it is
23435 @emph{not} a separate back end. If you set
23436 @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} to t, @emph{all} your BBDB splitting
23441 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
23443 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23444 customizing the group parameters or the
23445 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23446 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
23447 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
23452 Instead of the obsolete
23453 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB}, it is recommended
23454 that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-BBDB)}. Everything will work
23455 the same way, we promise.
23459 @node Gmane Spam Reporting
23460 @subsubsection Gmane Spam Reporting
23461 @cindex spam reporting
23462 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
23463 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
23466 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane
23468 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23469 customizing the group parameters or the
23470 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23471 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
23472 articles groups will be reported to the Gmane administrators via a
23475 Gmane can be found at @uref{http://gmane.org}.
23479 Instead of the obsolete
23480 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane}, it is recommended
23481 that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-gmane)}. Everything will work the
23482 same way, we promise.
23486 @defvar spam-report-gmane-use-article-number
23488 This variable is @code{t} by default. Set it to @code{nil} if you are
23489 running your own news server, for instance, and the local article
23490 numbers don't correspond to the Gmane article numbers. When
23491 @code{spam-report-gmane-use-article-number} is @code{nil},
23492 @code{spam-report.el} will use the @code{X-Report-Spam} header that
23497 @node Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
23498 @subsubsection Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
23499 @cindex spam filtering
23500 @cindex hashcash, spam filtering
23503 @defvar spam-use-hashcash
23505 Similar to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
23506 Whitelists}), but uses hashcash tokens for whitelisting messages
23507 instead of the sender address. Messages without a hashcash payment
23508 token will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an explicit
23509 filter, meaning that unless a hashcash token is found, the messages
23510 are not assumed to be spam or ham.
23515 @subsubsection Blackholes
23516 @cindex spam filtering
23517 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
23520 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
23522 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
23523 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
23524 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
23525 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
23526 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
23527 contains outdated servers.
23529 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
23530 @code{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
23531 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil}. It is not recommended at
23532 this time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil} despite the
23533 possible performance improvements, because some users may be unable to
23534 use it, but you can try it and see if it works for you.
23538 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
23540 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
23544 @defvar spam-blackhole-good-server-regex
23546 A regular expression for IPs that should not be checked against the
23547 blackhole server list. When set to @code{nil}, it has no effect.
23551 @defvar spam-use-dig
23553 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
23554 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
23558 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
23559 ham processor for blackholes.
23561 @node Regular Expressions Header Matching
23562 @subsubsection Regular Expressions Header Matching
23563 @cindex spam filtering
23564 @cindex regular expressions header matching, spam filtering
23567 @defvar spam-use-regex-headers
23569 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus check the
23570 message headers against lists of regular expressions when you set this
23571 option. The variables @code{spam-regex-headers-spam} and
23572 @code{spam-regex-headers-ham} hold the list of regular expressions.
23573 Gnus will check against the message headers to determine if the
23574 message is spam or ham, respectively.
23578 @defvar spam-regex-headers-spam
23580 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
23581 the message, positively identify it as spam.
23585 @defvar spam-regex-headers-ham
23587 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
23588 the message, positively identify it as ham.
23592 Regular expression header checks are done only on incoming mail.
23593 There is no specific spam or ham processor for regular expressions.
23596 @subsubsection Bogofilter
23597 @cindex spam filtering
23598 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
23601 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
23603 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
23606 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{$} mark for spam
23607 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
23608 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
23609 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
23610 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
23611 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
23613 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on a specific
23614 threshold. That threshold can be customized, consult the Bogofilter
23617 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
23618 processing will be turned off.
23620 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
23624 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
23626 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
23627 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
23628 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
23629 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
23630 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
23631 installation documents for details.
23633 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
23637 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
23638 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23639 customizing the group parameters or the
23640 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23641 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
23642 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
23646 Instead of the obsolete
23647 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
23648 that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
23649 the same way, we promise.
23652 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
23653 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23654 customizing the group parameters or the
23655 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23656 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
23657 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
23658 of non-spam messages.
23662 Instead of the obsolete
23663 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
23664 that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
23665 the same way, we promise.
23668 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
23670 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
23671 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
23672 database directory.
23676 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to @command{ifile} in intent and
23677 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
23678 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
23679 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
23680 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
23681 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
23683 @node SpamAssassin back end
23684 @subsubsection SpamAssassin back end
23685 @cindex spam filtering
23686 @cindex spamassassin, spam filtering
23689 @defvar spam-use-spamassassin
23691 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use SpamAssassin.
23693 SpamAssassin assigns a score to each article based on a set of rules
23694 and tests, including a Bayesian filter. The Bayesian filter can be
23695 trained by associating the @samp{$} mark for spam articles. The
23696 spam score can be viewed by using the command @kbd{S t} in summary
23699 If you set this variable, each article will be processed by
23700 SpamAssassin when @code{spam-split} is called. If your mail is
23701 preprocessed by SpamAssassin, and you want to just use the
23702 SpamAssassin headers, set @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}
23705 You should not enable this is you use
23706 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}.
23710 @defvar spam-use-spamassassin-headers
23712 Set this variable if your mail is preprocessed by SpamAssassin and
23713 want @code{spam-split} to split based on the SpamAssassin headers.
23715 You should not enable this is you use @code{spam-use-spamassassin}.
23719 @defvar spam-spamassassin-path
23721 This variable points to the SpamAssassin executable. If you have
23722 @code{spamd} running, you can set this variable to the @code{spamc}
23723 executable for faster processing. See the SpamAssassin documentation
23724 for more information on @code{spamd}/@code{spamc}.
23728 SpamAssassin is a powerful and flexible spam filter that uses a wide
23729 variety of tests to identify spam. A ham and a spam processors are
23730 provided, plus the @code{spam-use-spamassassin} and
23731 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers} variables to indicate to
23732 spam-split that SpamAssassin should be either used, or has already
23733 been used on the article. The 2.63 version of SpamAssassin was used
23734 to test this functionality.
23736 @node ifile spam filtering
23737 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
23738 @cindex spam filtering
23739 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
23742 @defvar spam-use-ifile
23744 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use @command{ifile}, a
23745 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
23749 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
23751 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
23752 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
23753 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
23757 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
23759 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
23760 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
23761 the default value of @samp{spam}.
23764 @defvar spam-ifile-database-path
23766 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
23767 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
23771 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
23772 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
23773 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
23774 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
23777 @node spam-stat spam filtering
23778 @subsubsection spam-stat spam filtering
23779 @cindex spam filtering
23780 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
23784 @xref{Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat}.
23786 @defvar spam-use-stat
23788 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use
23789 spam-stat.el, an Emacs Lisp statistical analyzer.
23793 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
23794 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23795 customizing the group parameters or the
23796 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23797 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
23798 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
23802 Instead of the obsolete
23803 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
23804 that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
23805 the same way, we promise.
23808 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
23809 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23810 customizing the group parameters or the
23811 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23812 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
23813 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
23814 of non-spam messages.
23818 Instead of the obsolete
23819 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
23820 that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
23821 the same way, we promise.
23824 This enables @code{spam.el} to cooperate with @file{spam-stat.el}.
23825 @file{spam-stat.el} provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database,
23826 which unlike ifile or Bogofilter does not require external programs.
23827 A spam and a ham processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for
23828 @code{spam-split} are provided.
23831 @subsubsection Using SpamOracle with Gnus
23832 @cindex spam filtering
23836 An easy way to filter out spam is to use SpamOracle. SpamOracle is an
23837 statistical mail filtering tool written by Xavier Leroy and needs to be
23838 installed separately.
23840 There are several ways to use SpamOracle with Gnus. In all cases, your
23841 mail is piped through SpamOracle in its @emph{mark} mode. SpamOracle will
23842 then enter an @samp{X-Spam} header indicating whether it regards the
23843 mail as a spam mail or not.
23845 One possibility is to run SpamOracle as a @code{:prescript} from the
23846 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}, (@pxref{SpamAssassin}). This method has
23847 the advantage that the user can see the @emph{X-Spam} headers.
23849 The easiest method is to make @code{spam.el} (@pxref{Filtering Spam
23850 Using The Spam ELisp Package}) call SpamOracle.
23852 @vindex spam-use-spamoracle
23853 To enable SpamOracle usage by @code{spam.el}, set the variable
23854 @code{spam-use-spamoracle} to @code{t} and configure the
23855 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy} as described in
23856 the section @xref{Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package}. In
23857 this example the @samp{INBOX} of an nnimap server is filtered using
23858 SpamOracle. Mails recognized as spam mails will be moved to
23859 @code{spam-split-group}, @samp{Junk} in this case. Ham messages stay
23863 (setq spam-use-spamoracle t
23864 spam-split-group "Junk"
23865 nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX")
23866 nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
23867 nnimap-split-fancy '(| (: spam-split) "INBOX"))
23870 @defvar spam-use-spamoracle
23871 Set to @code{t} if you want Gnus to enable spam filtering using
23875 @defvar spam-spamoracle-binary
23876 Gnus uses the SpamOracle binary called @file{spamoracle} found in the
23877 user's PATH. Using the variable @code{spam-spamoracle-binary}, this
23881 @defvar spam-spamoracle-database
23882 By default, SpamOracle uses the file @file{~/.spamoracle.db} as a database to
23883 store its analyses. This is controlled by the variable
23884 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} which defaults to @code{nil}. That means
23885 the default SpamOracle database will be used. In case you want your
23886 database to live somewhere special, set
23887 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} to this path.
23890 SpamOracle employs a statistical algorithm to determine whether a
23891 message is spam or ham. In order to get good results, meaning few
23892 false hits or misses, SpamOracle needs training. SpamOracle learns the
23893 characteristics of your spam mails. Using the @emph{add} mode
23894 (training mode) one has to feed good (ham) and spam mails to
23895 SpamOracle. This can be done by pressing @kbd{|} in the Summary buffer
23896 and pipe the mail to a SpamOracle process or using @code{spam.el}'s
23897 spam- and ham-processors, which is much more convenient. For a
23898 detailed description of spam- and ham-processors, @xref{Filtering Spam
23899 Using The Spam ELisp Package}.
23901 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle
23902 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23903 customizing the group parameter or the
23904 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
23905 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles will be
23906 sent to SpamOracle as spam samples.
23910 Instead of the obsolete
23911 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
23912 that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
23913 the same way, we promise.
23916 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle
23917 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23918 customizing the group parameter or the
23919 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
23920 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked articles in
23921 @emph{ham} groups will be sent to the SpamOracle as samples of ham
23926 Instead of the obsolete
23927 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
23928 that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
23929 the same way, we promise.
23932 @emph{Example:} These are the Group Parameters of a group that has been
23933 classified as a ham group, meaning that it should only contain ham
23936 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham)
23937 (spam-process ((ham spam-use-spamoracle)
23938 (spam spam-use-spamoracle))))
23940 For this group the @code{spam-use-spamoracle} is installed for both
23941 ham and spam processing. If the group contains spam message
23942 (e.g. because SpamOracle has not had enough sample messages yet) and
23943 the user marks some messages as spam messages, these messages will be
23944 processed by SpamOracle. The processor sends the messages to
23945 SpamOracle as new samples for spam.
23947 @node Extending the Spam ELisp package
23948 @subsubsection Extending the Spam ELisp package
23949 @cindex spam filtering
23950 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
23951 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
23953 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
23954 incoming mail, provide the following:
23962 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
23963 "True if blackbox should be used.")
23966 Write @code{spam-check-blackbox} if Blackbox can check incoming mail.
23968 Write @code{spam-blackbox-register-routine} and
23969 @code{spam-blackbox-unregister-routine} using the bogofilter
23970 register/unregister routines as a start, or other restister/unregister
23971 routines more appropriate to Blackbox, if Blackbox can
23972 register/unregister spam and ham.
23977 The @code{spam-check-blackbox} function should return @samp{nil} or
23978 @code{spam-split-group}, observing the other conventions. See the
23979 existing @code{spam-check-*} functions for examples of what you can
23980 do, and stick to the template unless you fully understand the reasons
23985 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
23992 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
23993 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
23995 Also, ham and spam processors are being phased out as single
23996 variables. Instead the form @code{'(spam spam-use-blackbox)} or
23997 @code{'(ham spam-use-blackbox)} is favored. For now, spam/ham
23998 processor variables are still around but they won't be for long.
24001 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-spam"
24002 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
24003 Only applicable to spam groups.")
24005 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-ham"
24006 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
24007 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
24016 (const :tag "Spam: Blackbox" (spam spam-use-blackbox))
24017 (const :tag "Ham: Blackbox" (ham spam-use-blackbox))
24019 to the @code{spam-process} group parameter in @code{gnus.el}. Make
24020 sure you do it twice, once for the parameter and once for the
24021 variable customization.
24025 (variable-item spam-use-blackbox)
24027 to the @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group parameter in
24028 @code{gnus.el} if Blackbox can check incoming mail for spam contents.
24030 Finally, use the appropriate @code{spam-install-*-backend} function in
24031 @code{spam.el}. Here are the available functions.
24037 @code{spam-install-backend-alias}
24039 This function will simply install an alias for a back end that does
24040 everything like the original back end. It is currently only used to
24041 make @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} act like @code{spam-use-BBDB}.
24044 @code{spam-install-nocheck-backend}
24046 This function installs a back end that has no check function, but can
24047 register/unregister ham or spam. The @code{spam-use-gmane} back end is
24051 @code{spam-install-checkonly-backend}
24053 This function will install a back end that can only check incoming mail
24054 for spam contents. It can't register or unregister messages.
24055 @code{spam-use-blackholes} and @code{spam-use-hashcash} are such
24059 @code{spam-install-statistical-checkonly-backend}
24061 This function installs a statistical back end (one which requires the
24062 full body of a message to check it) that can only check incoming mail
24063 for contents. @code{spam-use-regex-body} is such a filter.
24066 @code{spam-install-statistical-backend}
24068 This function install a statistical back end with incoming checks and
24069 registration/unregistration routines. @code{spam-use-bogofilter} is
24073 @code{spam-install-backend}
24075 This is the most normal back end installation, where a back end that can
24076 check and register/unregister messages is set up without statistical
24077 abilities. The @code{spam-use-BBDB} is such a back end.
24080 @code{spam-install-mover-backend}
24082 Mover back ends are internal to @code{spam.el} and specifically move
24083 articles around when the summary is exited. You will very probably
24084 never install such a back end.
24090 @node Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
24091 @subsection Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
24092 @cindex Paul Graham
24093 @cindex Graham, Paul
24094 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
24095 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
24096 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
24098 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
24099 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
24100 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
24101 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
24102 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
24103 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
24104 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
24105 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
24106 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
24109 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
24110 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
24111 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
24112 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
24113 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
24114 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
24115 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
24116 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
24118 Gnus supports this kind of filtering. But it needs some setting up.
24119 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
24120 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
24121 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
24122 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
24125 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
24126 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
24127 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
24130 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
24131 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
24133 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
24134 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
24135 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
24136 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
24137 need several hundred emails in both collections.
24139 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
24140 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
24141 per mail. Use the following:
24143 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
24144 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
24145 is treated as one spam mail.
24148 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
24149 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
24150 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
24153 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
24154 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds
24155 the the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
24156 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
24157 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds the the group
24158 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
24160 When you are using @acronym{IMAP}, you won't have the mails available
24161 locally, so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent
24162 to cache the articles. Then you can use directories such as
24163 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
24164 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
24167 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics---the
24168 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
24169 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
24170 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
24173 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
24174 reset the dictionary.
24176 @defun spam-stat-reset
24177 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
24180 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
24181 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
24182 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
24183 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
24184 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
24185 only non-spam mails.
24187 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
24188 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
24189 to update the dictionary incrementally.
24192 @defun spam-stat-save
24193 Save the dictionary.
24196 @defvar spam-stat-file
24197 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
24198 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
24201 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
24202 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
24204 In order to use @code{spam-stat} to split your mail, you need to add the
24205 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
24208 (require 'spam-stat)
24212 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
24215 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
24216 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
24217 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
24218 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
24220 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
24221 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
24222 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
24223 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
24226 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
24227 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
24231 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
24232 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
24235 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
24236 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
24237 expression are considered potential spam.
24240 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
24241 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
24242 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
24246 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
24247 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
24248 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
24249 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
24250 mails, when creating the dictionary!
24253 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
24254 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
24255 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
24259 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
24260 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
24261 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
24262 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
24263 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
24267 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
24268 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
24269 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
24270 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
24275 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
24276 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
24278 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
24280 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
24281 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
24282 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
24285 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
24286 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
24287 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
24290 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
24291 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
24292 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
24293 already been processed as non-spam.
24296 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
24297 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
24298 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
24299 been processed as spam.
24302 @defun spam-stat-save
24303 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
24304 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
24307 @defun spam-stat-load
24308 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
24309 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
24312 @defun spam-stat-score-word
24313 Return the spam score for a word.
24316 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
24317 Return the spam score for a buffer.
24320 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
24321 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
24322 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
24325 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
24326 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
24329 (require 'spam-stat)
24333 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
24336 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
24337 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
24338 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
24339 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
24340 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
24341 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
24342 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
24343 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
24344 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
24345 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
24346 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
24347 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
24348 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
24349 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
24352 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
24355 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
24356 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
24357 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
24358 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
24359 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
24360 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
24364 @section Interaction with other modes
24369 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} provided some useful functions for dired
24370 buffers. It is enabled with
24372 (add-hook 'dired-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-dired-mode)
24377 @findex gnus-dired-attach
24378 Send dired's marked files as an attachment (@code{gnus-dired-attach}).
24379 You will be prompted for a message buffer.
24382 @findex gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap
24383 Visit a file according to the appropriate mailcap entry
24384 (@code{gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap}). With prefix, open file in a new
24388 @findex gnus-dired-print
24389 Print file according to the mailcap entry (@code{gnus-dired-print}). If
24390 there is no print command, print in a PostScript image.
24393 @node Various Various
24394 @section Various Various
24400 @item gnus-home-directory
24401 @vindex gnus-home-directory
24402 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
24403 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
24405 @item gnus-directory
24406 @vindex gnus-directory
24407 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
24408 this variable, which defaults to the @env{SAVEDIR} environment
24409 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
24411 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{~/.gnus.el} file is read.
24412 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
24413 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
24414 @file{~/.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
24416 @item gnus-default-directory
24417 @vindex gnus-default-directory
24418 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
24419 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
24420 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
24421 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
24422 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
24423 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
24426 @vindex gnus-verbose
24427 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
24428 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
24429 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
24430 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
24431 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
24433 @item gnus-verbose-backends
24434 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
24435 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
24436 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
24438 @item nnheader-max-head-length
24439 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
24440 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
24441 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
24442 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
24443 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
24444 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
24445 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
24446 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
24447 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
24449 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
24450 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
24451 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
24452 read when doing the operation described above.
24454 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
24455 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
24457 @cindex invalid characters in file names
24458 @cindex characters in file names
24459 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
24460 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
24461 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
24465 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
24470 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
24471 Windows (phooey) systems.
24473 @item gnus-hidden-properties
24474 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
24475 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
24476 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
24477 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
24479 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
24480 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
24481 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
24482 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
24483 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
24485 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
24486 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
24487 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
24489 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
24490 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
24492 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
24493 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
24494 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
24495 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
24498 @acronym{IMAP} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
24506 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
24507 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
24509 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
24511 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
24517 Not because of victories @*
24520 but for the common sunshine,@*
24522 the largess of the spring.
24526 but for the day's work done@*
24527 as well as I was able;@*
24528 not for a seat upon the dais@*
24529 but at the common table.@*
24534 @chapter Appendices
24537 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
24538 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
24539 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
24540 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
24541 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
24542 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
24543 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
24544 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
24545 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
24552 @cindex installing under XEmacs
24554 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
24555 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
24556 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{mail-lib}, @samp{xemacs-base},
24557 @samp{eterm}, @samp{sh-script}, @samp{net-utils}, @samp{os-utils},
24558 @samp{dired}, @samp{mh-e}, @samp{sieve}, @samp{ps-print}, @samp{w3},
24559 @samp{pgg}, @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{ecrypto}, and @samp{sasl}.
24566 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
24567 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
24569 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
24570 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
24571 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
24572 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
24573 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
24575 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
24576 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
24577 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
24578 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
24579 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
24580 appropriate name, don't you think?)
24582 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
24583 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
24584 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
24585 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
24588 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
24589 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
24590 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
24591 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
24592 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
24593 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
24594 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
24595 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
24596 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
24600 @node Gnus Versions
24601 @subsection Gnus Versions
24603 @cindex September Gnus
24605 @cindex Quassia Gnus
24606 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
24609 @cindex Gnus versions
24611 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
24612 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
24613 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
24615 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
24616 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
24618 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
24619 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
24621 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
24622 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
24624 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
24625 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
24628 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
24630 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
24631 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
24632 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
24633 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
24634 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
24635 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
24638 @node Other Gnus Versions
24639 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
24642 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
24643 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
24644 Japan. It's based on a library called @acronym{SEMI}, which provides
24645 @acronym{MIME} capabilities.
24647 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
24648 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
24649 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
24650 @acronym{MIME} and multilingualization things, especially important for
24657 What's the point of Gnus?
24659 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
24660 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
24661 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
24662 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
24663 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
24664 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
24665 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
24666 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
24667 keep track of millions of people who post?
24669 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
24670 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
24671 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
24672 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
24673 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
24674 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
24675 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
24676 every one of you to explore and invent.
24678 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
24679 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
24682 @node Compatibility
24683 @subsection Compatibility
24685 @cindex compatibility
24686 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
24687 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
24688 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
24693 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
24697 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
24700 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
24703 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
24704 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
24705 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
24706 important variables have their values copied into their global
24707 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
24708 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
24710 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
24711 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
24712 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
24713 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
24714 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
24718 @cindex highlighting
24719 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
24720 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
24721 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
24722 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
24723 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
24724 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
24727 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
24728 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
24729 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
24730 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
24732 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
24733 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
24734 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
24735 to stop doing it the old way.
24737 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
24739 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
24741 @cindex reporting bugs
24743 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
24744 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
24745 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
24747 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
24748 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
24749 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
24750 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
24755 @subsection Conformity
24757 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
24758 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
24766 There are no known breaches of this standard.
24770 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
24772 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
24773 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
24774 We do have some breaches to this one.
24780 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
24781 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
24782 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
24783 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
24784 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
24789 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
24790 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
24791 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
24792 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
24794 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
24795 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
24796 All the various @acronym{MIME} RFCs are supported.
24798 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
24799 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
24801 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
24804 RFC 1991 is the original @acronym{PGP} message specification,
24805 published as an informational RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now
24806 called Open PGP, and put on the Standards Track. Both document a
24807 non-@acronym{MIME} aware @acronym{PGP} format. Gnus supports both
24808 encoding (signing and encryption) and decoding (verification and
24811 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
24812 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
24813 1991) describes the @acronym{MIME}-wrapping around the RF 1991/2440 format.
24814 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
24816 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
24817 RFC 2633 describes the @acronym{S/MIME} format.
24819 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
24820 RFC 1730 is @acronym{IMAP} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060
24821 (@acronym{IMAP} 4 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5
24822 authentication for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2086 describes access control
24823 lists (ACLs) for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2359 describes a @acronym{IMAP}
24824 protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper @acronym{TLS}
24825 integration (STARTTLS) with @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 1731 describes the
24826 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @acronym{IMAP}.
24830 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
24831 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
24836 @subsection Emacsen
24842 Gnus should work on:
24850 XEmacs 21.4 and up.
24854 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
24855 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
24858 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
24859 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
24860 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
24864 @node Gnus Development
24865 @subsection Gnus Development
24867 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
24868 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
24869 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
24870 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
24871 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
24872 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
24873 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
24874 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
24876 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
24877 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
24878 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
24879 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
24880 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
24883 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
24884 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
24885 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
24886 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
24887 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
24889 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
24890 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
24891 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
24892 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
24893 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
24894 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
24895 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
24896 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
24897 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
24898 can't be assumed to do so.
24903 @subsection Contributors
24904 @cindex contributors
24906 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
24907 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
24908 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
24909 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
24910 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
24911 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
24912 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
24913 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
24914 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
24915 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
24917 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for@dots{} oops,
24923 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
24926 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
24927 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @acronym{MIME} and
24928 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
24929 functionality and stuff.
24932 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
24933 well as numerous other things).
24936 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
24939 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
24942 Justin Sheehy---the @acronym{FAQ} maintainer.
24945 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
24948 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
24949 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
24952 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
24955 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section.
24958 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
24961 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
24964 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
24967 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
24970 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
24971 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
24974 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
24977 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
24980 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
24983 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
24987 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
24990 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
24993 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
24996 Fran@,{c}ois Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
24997 well as autoconf support.
25001 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
25002 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
25004 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
25019 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
25021 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
25025 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
25035 Alexei V. Barantsev,
25050 Massimo Campostrini,
25055 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
25056 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
25060 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
25063 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
25069 Michael Welsh Duggan,
25074 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
25078 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
25086 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
25088 Michelangelo Grigni,
25092 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
25094 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c Hayashi
25096 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
25103 Fran@,{c}ois Felix Ingrand,
25104 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c Ichikawa
25105 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
25107 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
25117 Peter Skov Knudsen,
25118 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
25120 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
25121 Thor Kristoffersen,
25124 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
25142 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
25143 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
25150 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
25155 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
25159 John McClary Prevost,
25165 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
25170 Christian von Roques,
25173 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
25180 Philippe Schnoebelen,
25182 Randal L. Schwartz,
25196 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
25201 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
25221 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
25222 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
25223 (550kB and counting).
25225 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
25228 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
25229 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
25233 @subsection New Features
25234 @cindex new features
25237 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
25238 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
25239 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
25240 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
25241 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
25242 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
25243 * No Gnus:: Lars, FIXME!
25246 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
25247 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
25248 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
25251 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
25253 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
25258 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
25259 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
25262 Local spool and several @acronym{NNTP} servers can be used at once
25263 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
25266 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
25269 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
25270 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
25271 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
25274 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
25275 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
25276 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
25277 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
25280 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
25281 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
25284 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
25285 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
25286 (@pxref{The Active File}).
25289 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
25290 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
25293 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
25294 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
25295 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
25298 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
25299 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
25300 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
25303 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{~/.gnus.el}) to avoid
25304 cluttering up the @file{.emacs} file.
25307 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
25308 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
25311 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
25312 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
25315 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
25316 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
25319 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
25320 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
25323 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
25324 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
25327 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
25330 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
25331 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
25334 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
25335 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
25338 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
25339 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
25342 Gnus can fetch @acronym{FAQ}s and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
25345 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
25346 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
25349 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
25353 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
25357 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
25358 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
25361 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
25367 @node September Gnus
25368 @subsubsection September Gnus
25372 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
25376 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
25381 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
25382 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
25386 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
25387 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
25391 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
25395 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
25396 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
25399 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
25403 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions.
25406 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
25409 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
25412 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
25416 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
25417 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
25420 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
25424 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
25428 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
25432 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
25436 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
25439 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
25440 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
25443 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
25447 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
25448 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
25451 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
25454 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
25455 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
25456 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
25459 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
25463 The Gnus cache is much faster.
25466 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
25470 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
25471 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
25474 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
25475 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
25478 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
25479 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
25482 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
25483 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
25484 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
25487 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
25488 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
25491 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
25494 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
25497 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
25500 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
25503 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
25504 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
25507 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
25511 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
25514 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
25519 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
25522 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
25526 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
25529 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
25533 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
25536 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
25539 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
25540 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
25543 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
25544 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
25548 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
25549 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
25552 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
25556 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
25557 buffer to allow easier treatment.
25560 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
25563 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
25567 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
25571 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
25572 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
25575 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
25579 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
25580 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
25583 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
25584 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
25587 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
25591 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
25594 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
25597 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
25603 @subsubsection Red Gnus
25605 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
25609 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
25616 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
25619 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
25620 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
25623 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
25624 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
25628 Article washing status can be displayed in the
25629 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
25632 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
25635 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
25636 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
25639 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
25643 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
25644 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
25648 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
25649 Server Internals}).
25652 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
25656 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
25659 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
25660 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
25663 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
25664 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
25665 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
25668 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
25669 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
25672 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
25673 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
25676 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
25680 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
25681 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
25684 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
25685 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
25688 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
25692 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
25695 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
25699 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
25700 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
25703 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
25704 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
25707 A new command for reading collections of documents
25708 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
25709 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
25712 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
25716 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @acronym{NNTP}
25717 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
25720 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
25721 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
25722 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
25725 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
25726 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
25730 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
25734 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
25738 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
25743 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
25747 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
25751 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
25752 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
25755 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
25761 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
25763 New features in Gnus 5.6:
25768 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
25769 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added.
25770 @xref{Gnus Unplugged}, for the full story.
25773 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
25774 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
25775 group, which is created automatically.
25778 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
25782 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
25785 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
25786 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
25789 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
25793 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
25796 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
25797 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
25800 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
25803 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. @xref{Symbolic Prefixes}, for
25807 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
25808 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the @file{all.SCORE} file.
25811 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
25812 control over simplification.
25815 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
25818 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
25822 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
25825 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
25828 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
25829 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
25830 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
25833 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
25834 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
25837 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
25841 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
25842 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
25845 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
25846 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @acronym{NNTP} servers.
25849 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
25853 A history of where mails have been split is available.
25856 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
25859 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
25860 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
25863 A new function for citing in Message has been
25864 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
25867 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
25870 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
25874 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
25875 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
25878 The ``lapsed date'' article header can be kept continually
25879 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
25882 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
25885 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
25889 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
25890 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
25892 New features in Gnus 5.8:
25897 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
25898 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
25900 If you used procmail like in
25903 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
25904 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
25905 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
25906 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
25909 this now has changed to
25913 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
25917 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}.
25920 Gnus is now a @acronym{MIME}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
25921 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
25924 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
25925 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
25928 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
25929 called to position point.
25932 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
25933 summary buffers and @acronym{NOV} files.
25936 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
25937 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
25940 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
25941 subtly different manner.
25944 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
25945 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
25946 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
25949 Gnus can now read @acronym{IMAP} mail via @code{nnimap}.
25954 @subsubsection Oort Gnus
25957 New features in Gnus 5.10:
25962 @kbd{F} (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}) and @kbd{R}
25963 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}) only yank the text in the
25964 region if the region is active.
25967 @code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group} can be called interactively,
25971 In draft groups, @kbd{e} is now bound to @code{gnus-draft-edit-message}.
25972 Use @kbd{B w} for @code{gnus-summary-edit-article} instead.
25975 The revised Gnus @acronym{FAQ} is included in the manual,
25976 @xref{Frequently Asked Questions}.
25979 Upgrading from previous (stable) version if you have used Oort.
25981 If you have tried Oort (the unstable Gnus branch leading to this
25982 release) but went back to a stable version, be careful when upgrading to
25983 this version. In particular, you will probably want to remove all
25984 @file{.marks} (nnml) and @file{.mrk} (nnfolder) files, so that flags are
25985 read from your @file{.newsrc.eld} instead of from the
25986 @file{.marks}/@file{.mrk} file where this release store flags. See a
25987 later entry for more information about marks. Note that downgrading
25988 isn't save in general.
25993 More buttons for URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man
25994 pages and Emacs or Gnus related references. @xref{Article Buttons}. The
25995 variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} can be used to control the
25996 appearance of all article buttons. @xref{Article Button Levels}.
26001 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} (see @ref{Other modes}) installs key
26002 bindings in dired buffers to send a file as an attachment, open a file
26003 using the appropriate mailcap entry, and print a file using the mailcap
26007 Gnus can display RSS newsfeeds as a newsgroup. @xref{RSS}.
26010 Single-part yenc encoded attachments can be decoded.
26015 The picons code has been reimplemented to work in GNU Emacs---some of
26016 the previous options have been removed or renamed.
26018 Picons are small ``personal icons'' representing users, domain and
26019 newsgroups, which can be displayed in the Article buffer.
26023 If the new option @code{gnus-treat-body-boundary} is non-@code{nil}, a
26024 boundary line is drawn at the end of the headers.
26027 Retrieval of charters and control messages
26029 There are new commands for fetching newsgroup charters (@kbd{H c}) and
26030 control messages (@kbd{H C}).
26035 You can delay the sending of a message with @kbd{C-c C-j} in the Message
26036 buffer. The messages are delivered at specified time. This is useful
26037 for sending yourself reminders. @xref{Delayed Articles}.
26040 If @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled, attachments are automatically
26041 decompressed when activated.
26044 If the new option @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil},
26045 the nnml back end allows compressed message files.
26048 Signed article headers (X-PGP-Sig) can be verified with @kbd{W p}.
26051 The Summary Buffer uses an arrow in the fringe to indicate the current
26052 article. Use @code{(setq gnus-summary-display-arrow nil)} to disable it.
26055 Warn about email replies to news
26057 Do you often find yourself replying to news by email by mistake? Then
26058 the new option @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} is just the thing for
26062 If the new option @code{gnus-summary-display-while-building} is
26063 non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer is shown and updated as it's being
26067 The new @code{recent} mark @samp{.} indicates newly arrived messages (as
26068 opposed to old but unread messages).
26071 The new option @code{gnus-gcc-mark-as-read} automatically marks
26072 Gcc articles as read.
26075 The nndoc back end now supports mailman digests and exim bounces.
26078 Gnus supports RFC 2369 mailing list headers, and adds a number of
26079 related commands in mailing list groups. @xref{Mailing List}.
26082 The Date header can be displayed in a format that can be read aloud
26083 in English. @xref{Article Date}.
26086 The envelope sender address can be customized when using Sendmail.
26087 @xref{Mail Variables, Mail Variables,, message, Message Manual}.
26090 diffs are automatically highlighted in groups matching
26091 @code{mm-uu-diff-groups-regexp}
26094 @acronym{TLS} wrapper shipped with Gnus
26096 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is now supported in @acronym{IMAP} and
26097 @acronym{NNTP} via @file{tls.el} and GNUTLS. The old
26098 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} support via (external third party)
26099 @file{ssl.el} and OpenSSL still works.
26102 New @file{make.bat} for compiling and installing Gnus under MS Windows
26104 Use @file{make.bat} if you want to install Gnus under MS Windows, the
26105 first argument to the batch-program should be the directory where
26106 @file{xemacs.exe} respectively @file{emacs.exe} is located, iff you want
26107 to install Gnus after compiling it, give @file{make.bat} @code{/copy} as
26108 the second parameter.
26110 @file{make.bat} has been rewritten from scratch, it now features
26111 automatic recognition of XEmacs and GNU Emacs, generates
26112 @file{gnus-load.el}, checks if errors occur while compilation and
26113 generation of info files and reports them at the end of the build
26114 process. It now uses @code{makeinfo} if it is available and falls
26115 back to @file{infohack.el} otherwise. @file{make.bat} should now
26116 install all files which are necessary to run Gnus and be generally a
26117 complete replacement for the @code{configure; make; make install}
26118 cycle used under Unix systems.
26120 The new @file{make.bat} makes @file{make-x.bat} superfluous, so it has
26124 Support for non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names
26126 Message supports non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To: and
26127 Cc: and will query you whether to perform encoding when you try to
26128 send a message. The variable @code{message-use-idna} controls this.
26129 Gnus will also decode non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To:
26130 and Cc: when you view a message. The variable @code{gnus-use-idna}
26134 Better handling of Microsoft citation styles
26136 Gnus now tries to recognize the mangled header block that some Microsoft
26137 mailers use to indicate that the rest of the message is a citation, even
26138 though it is not quoted in any way. The variable
26139 @code{gnus-cite-unsightly-citation-regexp} matches the start of these
26143 @code{gnus-article-skip-boring}
26145 If you set @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} to @code{t}, then Gnus will
26146 not scroll down to show you a page that contains only boring text,
26147 which by default means cited text and signature. You can customize
26148 what is skippable using @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}.
26150 This feature is especially useful if you read many articles that
26151 consist of a little new content at the top with a long, untrimmed
26152 message cited below.
26155 The format spec @code{%C} for positioning point has changed to @code{%*}.
26158 The new variable @code{gnus-parameters} can be used to set group parameters.
26160 Earlier this was done only via @kbd{G p} (or @kbd{G c}), which stored
26161 the parameters in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, but via this variable you can
26162 enjoy the powers of customize, and simplified backups since you set the
26163 variable in @file{~/.emacs} instead of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. The
26164 variable maps regular expressions matching group names to group
26167 (setq gnus-parameters
26169 (gnus-show-threads nil)
26170 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
26171 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
26172 (to-group . "\\1"))))
26176 Smileys (@samp{:-)}, @samp{;-)} etc) are now iconized for Emacs too.
26178 Put @code{(setq gnus-treat-display-smileys nil)} in @file{~/.emacs} to
26182 Gnus no longer generate the Sender: header automatically.
26184 Earlier it was generated iff the user configurable email address was
26185 different from the Gnus guessed default user address. As the guessing
26186 algorithm is rarely correct these days, and (more controversially) the
26187 only use of the Sender: header was to check if you are entitled to
26188 cancel/supersede news (which is now solved by Cancel Locks instead,
26189 see another entry), generation of the header has been disabled by
26190 default. See the variables @code{message-required-headers},
26191 @code{message-required-news-headers}, and
26192 @code{message-required-mail-headers}.
26195 Features from third party @file{message-utils.el} added to @file{message.el}.
26197 Message now asks if you wish to remove @samp{(was: <old subject>)} from
26198 subject lines (see @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query}). @kbd{C-c
26199 M-m} and @kbd{C-c M-f} inserts markers indicating included text.
26200 @kbd{C-c C-f a} adds a X-No-Archive: header. @kbd{C-c C-f x} inserts
26201 appropriate headers and a note in the body for cross-postings and
26202 followups (see the variables @code{message-cross-post-@var{*}}).
26205 References and X-Draft-Headers are no longer generated when you start
26206 composing messages and @code{message-generate-headers-first} is
26210 Improved anti-spam features.
26212 Gnus is now able to take out spam from your mail and news streams
26213 using a wide variety of programs and filter rules. Among the supported
26214 methods are RBL blocklists, bogofilter and white/blacklists. Hooks
26215 for easy use of external packages such as SpamAssassin and Hashcash
26216 are also new. @xref{Thwarting Email Spam}.
26219 Easy inclusion of X-Faces headers.
26222 Face headers handling.
26225 In the summary buffer, the new command @kbd{/ N} inserts new messages
26226 and @kbd{/ o} inserts old messages.
26229 Gnus decodes morse encoded messages if you press @kbd{W m}.
26232 Unread count correct in nnimap groups.
26234 The estimated number of unread articles in the group buffer should now
26235 be correct for nnimap groups. This is achieved by calling
26236 @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} from the
26237 @code{gnus-setup-news-hook} (called on startup) and
26238 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook}. (called after getting new
26239 mail). If you have modified those variables from the default, you may
26240 want to add @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} again. If
26241 you were happy with the estimate and want to save some (minimal) time
26242 when getting new mail, remove the function.
26245 Group Carbon Copy (GCC) quoting
26247 To support groups that contains SPC and other weird characters, groups
26248 are quoted before they are placed in the Gcc: header. This means
26249 variables such as @code{gnus-message-archive-group} should no longer
26250 contain quote characters to make groups containing SPC work. Also, if
26251 you are using the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar} (indicating Gcc
26252 into two groups) you must change it to return the list
26253 @code{("nnml:foo" "nnml:bar")}, otherwise the Gcc: line will be quoted
26254 incorrectly. Note that returning the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar}
26255 was incorrect earlier, it just didn't generate any problems since it
26256 was inserted directly.
26259 @file{~/News/overview/} not used.
26261 As a result of the following change, the @file{~/News/overview/}
26262 directory is not used any more. You can safely delete the entire
26268 The Gnus Agent has seen a major updated and is now enabled by default,
26269 and all nntp and nnimap servers from @code{gnus-select-method} and
26270 @code{gnus-secondary-select-method} are agentized by default. Earlier
26271 only the server in @code{gnus-select-method} was agentized by the
26272 default, and the agent was disabled by default. When the agent is
26273 enabled, headers are now also retrieved from the Agent cache instead
26274 of the back ends when possible. Earlier this only happened in the
26275 unplugged state. You can enroll or remove servers with @kbd{J a} and
26276 @kbd{J r} in the server buffer. Gnus will not download articles into
26277 the Agent cache, unless you instruct it to do so, though, by using
26278 @kbd{J u} or @kbd{J s} from the Group buffer. You revert to the old
26279 behaviour of having the Agent disabled with @code{(setq gnus-agent
26280 nil)}. Note that putting @code{(gnus-agentize)} in @file{~/.gnus.el}
26281 is not needed any more.
26284 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}
26286 The default value changed to @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%)
26287 %s\n}. Moreover @code{gnus-extra-headers},
26288 @code{nnmail-extra-headers} and @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses}
26289 changed their default so that the users name will be replaced by the
26290 recipient's name or the group name posting to for @acronym{NNTP}
26294 @file{deuglify.el} (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article})
26296 A new file from Raymond Scholz @email{rscholz@@zonix.de} for deuglifying
26297 broken Outlook (Express) articles.
26300 @code{(require 'gnus-load)}
26302 If you use a stand-alone Gnus distribution, you'd better add
26303 @code{(require 'gnus-load)} into your @file{~/.emacs} after adding the Gnus
26304 lisp directory into load-path.
26306 File @file{gnus-load.el} contains autoload commands, functions and variables,
26307 some of which may not be included in distributions of Emacsen.
26310 @code{gnus-slave-unplugged}
26312 A new command which starts Gnus offline in slave mode.
26315 @code{message-insinuate-rmail}
26317 Adding @code{(message-insinuate-rmail)} and @code{(setq
26318 mail-user-agent 'gnus-user-agent)} in @file{.emacs} convinces Rmail to
26319 compose, reply and forward messages in message-mode, where you can
26320 enjoy the power of @acronym{MML}.
26323 @code{message-minibuffer-local-map}
26325 The line below enables BBDB in resending a message:
26327 (define-key message-minibuffer-local-map [(tab)]
26328 'bbdb-complete-name)
26332 Externalizing and deleting of attachments.
26334 If @code{gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments} or
26335 @code{message-fcc-externalize-attachments} is non-@code{nil}, attach
26336 local files as external parts.
26338 The command @code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip} (bound to @kbd{C-o}
26339 on @acronym{MIME} buttons) saves a part and replaces the part with an
26340 external one. @code{gnus-mime-delete-part} (bound to @kbd{d} on
26341 @acronym{MIME} buttons) removes a part. It works only on back ends
26342 that support editing.
26345 @code{gnus-default-charset}
26347 The default value is determined from the
26348 @code{current-language-environment} variable, instead of
26349 @code{iso-8859-1}. Also the @samp{.*} item in
26350 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} is removed.
26353 @code{gnus-posting-styles}
26355 Add a new format of match like
26357 ((header "to" "larsi.*org")
26358 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
26360 The old format like the lines below is obsolete, but still accepted.
26362 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
26363 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
26367 @code{message-ignored-news-headers} and @code{message-ignored-mail-headers}
26369 @samp{X-Draft-From} and @samp{X-Gnus-Agent-Meta-Information} have been
26370 added into these two variables. If you customized those, perhaps you
26371 need add those two headers too.
26374 Gnus reads the @acronym{NOV} and articles in the Agent if plugged.
26376 If one reads an article while plugged, and the article already exists
26377 in the Agent, it won't get downloaded once more. @code{(setq
26378 gnus-agent-cache nil)} reverts to the old behavior.
26381 Gnus supports the ``format=flowed'' (RFC 2646) parameter. On
26382 composing messages, it is enabled by @code{use-hard-newlines}.
26383 Decoding format=flowed was present but not documented in earlier
26387 Gnus supports the generation of RFC 2298 Disposition Notification requests.
26389 This is invoked with the @kbd{C-c M-n} key binding from message mode.
26392 Gnus supports Maildir groups.
26394 Gnus includes a new back end @file{nnmaildir.el}. @xref{Maildir}.
26397 Printing capabilities are enhanced.
26399 Gnus supports Muttprint natively with @kbd{O P} from the Summary and
26400 Article buffers. Also, each individual @acronym{MIME} part can be
26401 printed using @kbd{p} on the @acronym{MIME} button.
26404 Message supports the Importance: (RFC 2156) header.
26406 In the message buffer, @kbd{C-c C-f C-i} or @kbd{C-c C-u} cycles through
26410 Gnus supports Cancel Locks in News.
26412 This means a header @samp{Cancel-Lock} is inserted in news posting. It is
26413 used to determine if you wrote an article or not (for canceling and
26414 superseding). Gnus generates a random password string the first time
26415 you post a message, and saves it in your @file{~/.emacs} using the Custom
26416 system. While the variable is called @code{canlock-password}, it is not
26417 security sensitive data. Publishing your canlock string on the web
26418 will not allow anyone to be able to anything she could not already do.
26419 The behaviour can be changed by customizing @code{message-insert-canlock}.
26422 Gnus supports server-side mail filtering using Sieve.
26424 Sieve rules can be added as Group Parameters for groups, and the
26425 complete Sieve script is generated using @kbd{D g} from the Group
26426 buffer, and then uploaded to the server using @kbd{C-c C-l} in the
26427 generated Sieve buffer. @xref{Sieve Commands}, and the new Sieve
26428 manual @ref{Top, , Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
26431 Extended format specs.
26433 Format spec @samp{%&user-date;} is added into
26434 @code{gnus-summary-line-format-alist}. Also, user defined extended
26435 format specs are supported. The extended format specs look like
26436 @samp{%u&foo;}, which invokes function
26437 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{foo}}. Because @samp{&} is used as the
26438 escape character, old user defined format @samp{%u&} is no longer supported.
26441 @kbd{/ *} (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}) is rewritten.
26443 It was aliased to @kbd{Y c}
26444 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}). The new function filters
26445 out other articles.
26447 @item Some limiting commands accept a @kbd{C-u} prefix to negate the match.
26449 If @kbd{C-u} is used on subject, author or extra headers, i.e., @kbd{/
26450 s}, @kbd{/ a}, and @kbd{/ x}
26451 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-@{subject,author,extra@}}) respectively, the
26452 result will be to display all articles that do not match the expression.
26455 Group names are treated as UTF-8 by default.
26457 This is supposedly what USEFOR wanted to migrate to. See
26458 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} and
26459 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} for customization.
26462 The nnml and nnfolder back ends store marks for each groups.
26464 This makes it possible to take backup of nnml/nnfolder servers/groups
26465 separately of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, while preserving marks. It also
26466 makes it possible to share articles and marks between users (without
26467 sharing the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file) within e.g. a department. It
26468 works by storing the marks stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld} in a per-group
26469 file @file{.marks} (for nnml) and @file{@var{groupname}.mrk} (for
26470 nnfolder, named @var{groupname}). If the nnml/nnfolder is moved to
26471 another machine, Gnus will automatically use the @file{.marks} or
26472 @file{.mrk} file instead of the information in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
26473 The new server variables @code{nnml-marks-is-evil} and
26474 @code{nnfolder-marks-is-evil} can be used to disable this feature.
26477 The menu bar item (in Group and Summary buffer) named ``Misc'' has
26478 been renamed to ``Gnus''.
26481 The menu bar item (in Message mode) named ``@acronym{MML}'' has been
26482 renamed to ``Attachments''. Note that this menu also contains security
26483 related stuff, like signing and encryption (@pxref{Security, Security,,
26484 message, Message Manual}).
26487 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} and
26488 @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
26490 The regexps in these variables are compared with full group names
26491 instead of real group names in 5.8. Users who customize these
26492 variables should change those regexps accordingly. For example:
26494 ("^han\\>" euc-kr) -> ("\\(^\\|:\\)han\\>" euc-kr)
26498 Gnus supports @acronym{PGP} (RFC 1991/2440), @acronym{PGP/MIME} (RFC
26499 2015/3156) and @acronym{S/MIME} (RFC 2630-2633).
26501 It needs an external @acronym{S/MIME} and OpenPGP implementation, but no
26502 additional Lisp libraries. This add several menu items to the
26503 Attachments menu, and @kbd{C-c RET} key bindings, when composing
26504 messages. This also obsoletes @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook}.
26507 Gnus inlines external parts (message/external).
26510 @acronym{MML} (Mime compose) prefix changed from @kbd{M-m} to @kbd{C-c
26513 This change was made to avoid conflict with the standard binding of
26514 @code{back-to-indentation}, which is also useful in message mode.
26517 The default for @code{message-forward-show-mml} changed to symbol @code{best}.
26519 The behaviour for the @code{best} value is to show @acronym{MML} (i.e.,
26520 convert to @acronym{MIME}) when appropriate. @acronym{MML} will not be
26521 used when forwarding signed or encrypted messages, as the conversion
26522 invalidate the digital signature.
26526 @subsubsection No Gnus
26529 New features in No Gnus:
26530 @c FIXME: Gnus 5.12?
26532 @include gnus-news.texi
26538 @section The Manual
26542 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
26543 either @code{texi2dvi}
26545 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
26546 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
26548 to get what you hold in your hands now.
26550 The following conventions have been used:
26555 This is a @samp{string}
26558 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
26561 This is a @file{file}
26564 This is a @code{symbol}
26568 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
26572 (setq flargnoze "yes")
26575 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
26578 (setq flumphel 'yes)
26581 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
26582 ever get them confused.
26586 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
26587 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
26588 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
26589 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
26590 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
26591 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
26592 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
26598 @node On Writing Manuals
26599 @section On Writing Manuals
26601 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
26602 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
26603 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
26604 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
26605 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
26606 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
26609 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
26610 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
26611 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
26614 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
26615 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
26620 @section Terminology
26622 @cindex terminology
26627 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
26628 News is generally fetched from a nearby @acronym{NNTP} server, and is
26629 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
26630 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
26631 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
26635 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
26636 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
26637 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
26638 not posting, and replying is not following up.
26642 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
26646 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
26651 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
26652 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
26653 commonly fetched via the protocol @acronym{NNTP}, whereas mail
26654 messages could be read from a file on the local disk. The internal
26655 architecture of Gnus thus comprises a ``front end'' and a number of
26656 ``back ends''. Internally, when you enter a group (by hitting
26657 @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke a function in the front end in
26658 Gnus. The front end then ``talks'' to a back end and says things like
26659 ``Give me the list of articles in the foo group'' or ``Show me article
26662 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back
26663 end accesses news via @acronym{NNTP}, the @code{nnimap} back end
26664 accesses mail via @acronym{IMAP}) or a file format and directory
26665 layout (the @code{nnspool} back end accesses news via the common
26666 ``spool directory'' format, the @code{nnml} back end access mail via a
26667 file format and directory layout that's quite similar).
26669 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
26670 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
26671 access the articles.
26673 However, sometimes the term ``back end'' is also used where ``server''
26674 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term ``select
26675 method'' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
26680 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
26681 default, way of getting news.
26685 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
26686 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
26691 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
26692 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
26696 A message that has been posted as news.
26699 @cindex mail message
26700 A message that has been mailed.
26704 A mail message or news article
26708 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
26713 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
26718 A line from the head of an article.
26722 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
26723 collection of @acronym{NOV} lines.
26725 @item @acronym{NOV}
26726 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
26727 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
26728 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
26729 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
26730 normal @sc{head} format.
26734 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
26735 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
26736 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
26737 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
26738 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
26739 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
26741 @item killed groups
26742 @cindex killed groups
26743 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
26744 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
26746 @item zombie groups
26747 @cindex zombie groups
26748 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
26751 @cindex active file
26752 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
26753 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
26754 is rather large, as you might surmise.
26757 @cindex bogus groups
26758 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
26759 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
26760 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
26763 @cindex activating groups
26764 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
26765 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
26766 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
26770 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
26772 @item select method
26773 @cindex select method
26774 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
26777 @item virtual server
26778 @cindex virtual server
26779 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
26780 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
26781 whole is a virtual server.
26785 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
26786 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
26789 @item ephemeral groups
26790 @cindex ephemeral groups
26791 @cindex temporary groups
26792 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
26793 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
26794 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
26797 @cindex solid groups
26798 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
26799 group buffer are solid groups.
26801 @item sparse articles
26802 @cindex sparse articles
26803 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
26804 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
26808 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
26809 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
26813 @cindex thread root
26814 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
26815 articles in the thread.
26819 An article that has responses.
26823 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
26827 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
26828 specified by RFC 1153.
26831 @cindex splitting, terminolgy
26832 @cindex mail sorting
26833 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
26834 The action of sorting your emails according to certain rules. Sometimes
26835 incorrectly called mail filtering.
26841 @node Customization
26842 @section Customization
26843 @cindex general customization
26845 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
26846 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
26847 for some quite common situations.
26850 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
26851 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
26852 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
26853 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
26857 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
26858 @subsection Slow/Expensive NNTP Connection
26860 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
26861 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
26862 Gnus has to get from the @acronym{NNTP} server.
26866 @item gnus-read-active-file
26867 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
26868 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
26869 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
26870 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
26871 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
26873 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
26874 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
26875 the @acronym{NNTP} server will not be very fast. Not all @acronym{NNTP} servers
26876 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
26880 @node Slow Terminal Connection
26881 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
26883 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
26884 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
26885 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
26889 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
26890 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
26891 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
26892 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
26893 horizontal and vertical recentering.
26895 @item gnus-visible-headers
26896 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
26897 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
26898 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
26899 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
26901 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
26903 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
26904 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
26905 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
26908 @item gnus-use-full-window
26909 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
26910 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
26911 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
26912 want to read them anyway.
26914 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
26915 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
26919 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
26920 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
26921 lines, which might save some time.
26925 @node Little Disk Space
26926 @subsection Little Disk Space
26929 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
26930 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
26934 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
26935 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
26936 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
26937 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
26940 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
26941 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
26942 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
26943 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
26946 @item gnus-save-killed-list
26947 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
26948 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
26949 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
26950 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
26956 @subsection Slow Machine
26957 @cindex slow machine
26959 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
26960 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
26962 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
26963 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
26965 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
26966 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
26967 summary buffer faster.
26971 @node Troubleshooting
26972 @section Troubleshooting
26973 @cindex troubleshooting
26975 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
26983 Make sure your computer is switched on.
26986 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
26987 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
26991 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
26992 like @samp{Gnus v5.10.6} you have the right files loaded. Otherwise
26993 you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
26996 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a
26997 @acronym{FAQ} and a how-to.
27000 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
27001 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
27002 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
27003 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
27004 something like that.
27007 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
27010 @cindex reporting bugs
27012 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
27014 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
27015 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
27016 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
27017 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
27019 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
27020 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
27021 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
27022 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
27025 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
27026 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
27027 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
27028 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
27029 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
27030 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
27032 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
27033 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
27034 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
27038 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
27039 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
27042 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
27043 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
27044 edebug. Debugging Lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
27045 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
27046 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
27047 you discover some weird behaviour when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
27048 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
27049 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
27050 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
27051 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
27052 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
27053 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
27054 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
27055 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
27060 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate an elisp error but
27061 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
27062 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press @kbd{C-g} when things are
27063 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
27064 helps isolating the real problem areas).
27066 A fancier approach is to use the elisp profiler, ELP. The profiler is
27067 (or should be) fully documented elsewhere, but to get you started
27068 there are a few steps that need to be followed. First, instrument the
27069 part of Gnus you are interested in for profiling, e.g. @kbd{M-x
27070 elp-instrument-package RET gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package
27071 RET message}. Then perform the operation that is slow and press
27072 @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will then see which operations that takes
27073 time, and can debug them further. If the entire operation takes much
27074 longer than the time spent in the slowest function in the profiler
27075 output, you probably profiled the wrong part of Gnus. To reset
27076 profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x
27077 elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove profiling, but given the
27078 complexities and dynamic code generation in Gnus, it might not always
27081 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
27082 @cindex ding mailing list
27083 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
27084 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful. You can also ask on
27085 @email{ding@@gnus.org, the ding mailing list}. Write to
27086 @email{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
27090 @node Gnus Reference Guide
27091 @section Gnus Reference Guide
27093 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
27094 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
27095 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
27096 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
27099 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
27100 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
27101 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
27102 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
27103 and general methods of operation.
27106 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
27107 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
27108 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
27109 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
27110 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
27111 * Group Info:: The group info format.
27112 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
27113 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
27114 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
27118 @node Gnus Utility Functions
27119 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
27120 @cindex Gnus utility functions
27121 @cindex utility functions
27123 @cindex internal variables
27125 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
27126 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
27127 Below is a list of the most common ones.
27131 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
27132 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
27133 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
27135 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
27136 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
27137 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
27139 @item gnus-group-real-name
27140 @findex gnus-group-real-name
27141 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
27144 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
27145 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
27146 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
27147 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
27149 @item gnus-get-info
27150 @findex gnus-get-info
27151 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
27153 @item gnus-group-unread
27154 @findex gnus-group-unread
27155 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
27159 @findex gnus-active
27160 The active entry for @var{group}.
27162 @item gnus-set-active
27163 @findex gnus-set-active
27164 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
27166 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
27167 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
27168 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
27171 @item gnus-continuum-version
27172 @findex gnus-continuum-version
27173 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
27174 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
27177 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
27178 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
27179 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
27181 @item gnus-news-group-p
27182 @findex gnus-news-group-p
27183 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
27185 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
27186 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
27187 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
27189 @item gnus-server-to-method
27190 @findex gnus-server-to-method
27191 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
27193 @item gnus-server-equal
27194 @findex gnus-server-equal
27195 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
27197 @item gnus-group-native-p
27198 @findex gnus-group-native-p
27199 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
27201 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
27202 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
27203 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
27205 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
27206 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
27207 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
27209 @item gnus-group-find-parameter
27210 @findex gnus-group-find-parameter
27211 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
27212 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
27214 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
27215 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
27216 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
27218 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
27219 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
27220 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
27222 @item gnus-check-backend-function
27223 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
27224 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
27225 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
27228 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
27232 @item gnus-read-method
27233 @findex gnus-read-method
27234 Prompts the user for a select method.
27239 @node Back End Interface
27240 @subsection Back End Interface
27242 Gnus doesn't know anything about @acronym{NNTP}, spools, mail or virtual
27243 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
27244 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
27245 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
27246 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
27247 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
27249 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
27250 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
27251 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
27252 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
27253 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
27254 been opened, the function should fail.
27256 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
27257 name. Take this example:
27261 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
27262 (nntp-port-number 4324))
27265 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
27266 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
27268 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
27269 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
27270 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
27272 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
27273 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
27274 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
27276 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
27277 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
27278 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
27279 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
27280 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
27281 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
27284 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
27285 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
27286 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
27287 ---they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
27290 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
27291 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
27292 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
27293 possible for later articles to ``re-use'' older article numbers without
27294 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
27295 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
27296 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
27297 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
27298 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
27299 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
27301 The previous paragraph already mentions all the ``hard'' restrictions that
27302 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
27303 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
27304 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
27305 the ``no-reuse'' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
27306 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
27307 of numbers as long as possible.
27309 Note that by convention, back ends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
27310 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
27311 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
27313 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
27316 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
27319 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
27320 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
27321 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
27322 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
27323 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
27324 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
27328 @node Required Back End Functions
27329 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
27333 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
27335 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
27336 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
27337 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
27338 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
27340 The result data should either be HEADs or @acronym{NOV} lines, and the result
27341 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
27342 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
27343 of HEADs and @acronym{NOV} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
27345 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching ``extra
27346 headers'', in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
27347 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
27348 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
27349 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
27350 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
27351 number, do maximum fetches.
27353 Here's an example HEAD:
27356 221 1056 Article retrieved.
27357 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
27358 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
27359 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
27360 Subject: Re: Something very droll
27361 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
27362 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
27364 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
27365 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
27366 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
27370 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
27371 these in the data buffer.
27373 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
27377 head = error / valid-head
27378 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
27379 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
27380 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
27381 header = <text> eol
27385 (The version of BNF used here is the one used in RFC822.)
27387 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
27388 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
27392 nov-buffer = *nov-line
27393 nov-line = field 7*8[ <TAB> field ] eol
27394 field = <text except TAB>
27397 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
27401 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
27403 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
27404 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
27406 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
27407 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
27408 server. In fact, it should do so.
27410 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
27411 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
27414 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
27416 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
27417 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
27420 There should be no data returned.
27423 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
27425 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
27426 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
27427 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
27428 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
27430 There should be no data returned.
27433 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
27435 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
27436 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
27437 non-@code{nil} value. This function should under no circumstances
27438 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
27440 There should be no data returned.
27443 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
27445 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
27447 There should be no data returned.
27450 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
27452 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
27453 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
27454 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
27455 it would be nice if that were possible.
27457 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
27458 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
27459 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
27460 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
27461 into its article buffer.
27463 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
27464 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
27465 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
27466 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
27467 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
27468 on successful article retrieval.
27471 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
27473 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
27474 making @var{group} the current group.
27476 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
27479 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
27482 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
27485 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
27486 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
27487 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
27488 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
27489 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
27490 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
27491 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
27492 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
27493 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
27497 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
27498 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
27499 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
27503 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
27505 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
27506 a no-op on most back ends.
27508 There should be no data returned.
27511 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
27513 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
27516 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
27519 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
27520 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
27523 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
27524 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
27525 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
27526 and the highest as 0.
27529 active-file = *active-line
27530 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
27532 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
27535 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
27536 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
27537 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
27540 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
27542 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
27543 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
27544 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
27545 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
27546 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
27547 clear if the posting could not be completed.
27549 There should be no result data from this function.
27554 @node Optional Back End Functions
27555 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
27559 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
27561 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
27562 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
27563 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
27565 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
27566 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
27567 former is in the same format as the data from
27568 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
27569 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
27572 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
27576 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
27578 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
27579 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all
27580 the information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
27581 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
27582 should return a non-@code{nil} value.
27584 There should be no result data from this function.
27587 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
27589 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
27590 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
27591 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
27592 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
27593 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
27594 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
27595 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
27596 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
27598 There should be no result data from this function.
27601 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
27603 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
27604 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
27605 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @acronym{IMAP}) however carry
27606 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
27607 propagate the mark information to the server.
27609 @var{action} is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
27612 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
27615 @var{range} is a range of articles you wish to update marks on.
27616 @var{action} is @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove
27617 marks (preserving all marks not mentioned). @var{mark} is a list of
27618 marks; where each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are
27619 @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
27620 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
27621 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
27622 possible, not limit itself to these.
27624 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
27625 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
27626 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
27627 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
27629 An example action list:
27632 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
27633 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
27634 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
27637 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
27638 mark on (currently not used for anything).
27640 There should be no result data from this function.
27642 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
27644 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
27645 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
27646 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
27647 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
27648 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
27650 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
27651 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
27652 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
27655 There should be no result data from this function.
27658 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
27660 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
27661 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
27662 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query
27663 the @acronym{POP} server when this function is invoked. The
27664 @var{group} doesn't have to be heeded---if the back end decides that
27665 it is too much work just scanning for a single group, it may do a
27666 total scan of all groups. It would be nice, however, to keep things
27667 local if that's practical.
27669 There should be no result data from this function.
27672 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
27674 The result data from this function should be a description of
27678 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
27680 description = <text>
27683 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
27685 The result data from this function should be the description of all
27686 groups available on the server.
27689 description-buffer = *description-line
27693 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
27695 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
27696 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
27697 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
27698 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
27699 in the active buffer format.
27701 It is okay for this function to return ``too many'' groups; some back ends
27702 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
27703 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
27704 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
27705 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
27706 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
27707 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
27710 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
27712 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
27714 There should be no return data.
27717 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
27719 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
27720 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
27721 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
27722 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
27723 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
27726 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
27729 There should be no result data returned.
27732 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM &optional LAST)
27734 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
27735 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
27737 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
27738 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
27739 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
27740 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
27741 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
27742 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
27744 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
27745 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
27748 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
27749 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
27751 There should be no data returned.
27754 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
27756 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
27757 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
27758 this function in short order.
27760 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
27761 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
27763 The group should exist before the back end is asked to accept the
27764 article for that group.
27766 There should be no data returned.
27769 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
27771 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
27772 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
27774 There should be no data returned.
27777 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
27779 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
27780 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
27781 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
27783 There should be no data returned.
27786 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
27788 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
27789 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
27791 There should be no data returned.
27796 @node Error Messaging
27797 @subsubsection Error Messaging
27799 @findex nnheader-report
27800 @findex nnheader-get-report
27801 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
27802 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
27803 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
27804 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
27805 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
27806 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
27809 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
27811 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
27814 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
27815 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
27816 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
27817 takes one argument---the server symbol.
27819 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
27820 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
27821 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
27824 @node Writing New Back Ends
27825 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
27827 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
27828 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
27829 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
27830 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
27831 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
27834 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
27835 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
27836 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
27838 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
27839 package called @code{nnoo}.
27841 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
27842 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
27848 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
27849 parameters. For instance:
27852 (nnoo-declare nndir
27856 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
27857 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
27860 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
27861 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
27862 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
27864 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
27865 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
27866 a function in those back ends.
27869 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
27870 "Where nndir will look for groups."
27871 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
27874 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
27875 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
27876 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
27878 @item nnoo-define-basics
27879 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
27883 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
27887 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
27888 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
27889 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
27891 @item nnoo-map-functions
27892 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
27893 functions from the parent back ends.
27896 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
27897 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
27898 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
27901 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
27902 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
27903 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
27904 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
27907 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
27908 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
27909 haven't already been defined.
27915 nnmh-request-newgroups)
27919 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
27920 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
27921 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
27926 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
27929 ;;; @r{nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus}
27930 ;; @r{Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.}
27934 (require 'nnheader)
27938 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
27940 (nnoo-declare nndir
27943 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
27944 "Where nndir will look for groups."
27945 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
27947 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
27948 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
27951 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
27953 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
27954 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
27955 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
27957 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
27958 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
27960 ;;; @r{Interface functions.}
27962 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
27964 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
27965 (setq nndir-directory
27966 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
27968 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
27969 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
27970 (push `(nndir-current-group
27971 ,(file-name-nondirectory
27972 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
27974 (push `(nndir-top-directory
27975 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
27977 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
27979 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
27980 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
27981 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
27982 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
27983 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
27987 nnmh-status-message
27989 nnmh-request-newgroups))
27995 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
27996 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
27998 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
27999 @findex gnus-declare-backend
28000 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
28001 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
28002 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
28004 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
28005 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
28010 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
28013 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
28015 The abilities can be:
28019 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
28021 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
28023 This back end supports both mail and news.
28025 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
28028 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
28029 articles and groups.
28031 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
28032 true for almost all back ends.
28033 @item prompt-address
28034 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
28035 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
28036 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
28040 @node Mail-like Back Ends
28041 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
28043 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
28044 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
28045 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
28046 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
28049 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
28050 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
28051 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
28054 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
28055 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
28058 This function takes four parameters.
28062 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
28065 @item exit-function
28066 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
28068 @item temp-directory
28069 Where the temporary files should be stored.
28072 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
28073 performed for one group only.
28076 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
28077 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
28078 find the article number assigned to this article.
28080 The function also uses the following variables:
28081 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
28082 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
28083 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
28084 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
28088 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
28089 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
28093 @node Score File Syntax
28094 @subsection Score File Syntax
28096 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
28097 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
28098 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
28100 Here's a typical score file:
28104 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
28111 BNF definition of a score file:
28114 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
28115 element = rule / atom
28116 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
28117 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
28118 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
28119 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
28121 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
28122 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
28123 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
28124 date-header = "date"
28125 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
28126 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
28127 score = "nil" / <integer>
28128 date = "nil" / <natural number>
28129 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
28130 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
28131 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
28132 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
28133 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
28134 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
28135 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
28136 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
28137 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
28138 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
28139 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
28140 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
28141 exclude-files / read-only / touched
28142 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
28143 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
28144 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
28145 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
28146 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
28147 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
28148 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
28149 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
28150 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
28151 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
28152 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
28153 eval = "eval" space <form>
28154 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
28157 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
28160 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
28161 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
28162 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
28163 one looong line, then that's ok.
28165 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
28166 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
28170 @subsection Headers
28172 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
28173 corresponds to the @acronym{NOV} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
28174 almost suspect that the author looked at the @acronym{NOV} specification and
28175 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
28177 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
28178 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
28179 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
28180 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
28181 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
28182 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
28183 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
28185 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
28186 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
28187 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
28188 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
28189 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
28191 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
28192 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
28198 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
28199 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
28201 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
28202 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
28203 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
28204 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
28206 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
28210 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
28213 is transformed into
28216 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
28219 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
28220 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
28223 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
28226 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
28227 is slightly tricky:
28230 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
28236 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
28239 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
28245 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
28252 and is equal to the previous range.
28254 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
28255 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
28256 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
28260 range = simple-range / normal-range
28261 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
28262 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
28263 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
28264 number *[ " " contents ]
28267 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
28268 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
28269 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
28270 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
28271 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
28276 @subsection Group Info
28278 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
28279 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
28280 describes the group.
28282 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
28283 second is a more complex one:
28286 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
28288 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
28289 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
28291 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
28294 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
28295 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
28296 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
28297 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
28298 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
28299 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
28300 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
28301 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
28302 this section is about.
28304 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
28305 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
28306 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
28308 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
28311 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
28312 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
28313 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
28314 group = quote <string> quote
28315 ralevel = rank / level
28316 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
28317 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
28318 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
28320 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
28321 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
28322 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
28323 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
28326 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
28327 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
28330 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
28331 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
28334 @item gnus-info-group
28335 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
28336 @findex gnus-info-group
28337 @findex gnus-info-set-group
28338 Get/set the group name.
28340 @item gnus-info-rank
28341 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
28342 @findex gnus-info-rank
28343 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
28344 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
28346 @item gnus-info-level
28347 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
28348 @findex gnus-info-level
28349 @findex gnus-info-set-level
28350 Get/set the group level.
28352 @item gnus-info-score
28353 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
28354 @findex gnus-info-score
28355 @findex gnus-info-set-score
28356 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
28358 @item gnus-info-read
28359 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
28360 @findex gnus-info-read
28361 @findex gnus-info-set-read
28362 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
28364 @item gnus-info-marks
28365 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
28366 @findex gnus-info-marks
28367 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
28368 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
28370 @item gnus-info-method
28371 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
28372 @findex gnus-info-method
28373 @findex gnus-info-set-method
28374 Get/set the group select method.
28376 @item gnus-info-params
28377 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
28378 @findex gnus-info-params
28379 @findex gnus-info-set-params
28380 Get/set the group parameters.
28383 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
28384 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
28386 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
28387 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
28388 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
28389 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
28392 @node Extended Interactive
28393 @subsection Extended Interactive
28394 @cindex interactive
28395 @findex gnus-interactive
28397 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
28398 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
28399 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
28402 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
28403 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
28408 The best thing to do would have been to implement
28409 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
28410 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
28411 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
28412 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
28413 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
28414 @code{interactive}.
28416 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
28421 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
28422 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
28426 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
28427 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
28428 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
28431 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
28435 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
28439 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
28445 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
28446 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
28450 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
28451 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
28452 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
28454 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
28455 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
28456 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
28457 Gnus, that's very useful.
28459 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
28460 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
28461 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
28462 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
28463 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
28464 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
28465 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
28466 following function:
28469 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
28473 (,function ,@@args))
28477 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
28478 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
28479 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
28482 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
28483 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
28484 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
28486 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
28487 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
28488 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
28491 @node Various File Formats
28492 @subsection Various File Formats
28495 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
28496 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
28500 @node Active File Format
28501 @subsubsection Active File Format
28503 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
28504 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
28507 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
28510 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
28511 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
28512 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
28513 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
28514 no.general 1000 900 y
28517 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
28520 active = *group-line
28521 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
28522 group = <non-white-space string>
28524 high-number = <non-negative integer>
28525 low-number = <positive integer>
28526 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
28529 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
28530 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
28533 @node Newsgroups File Format
28534 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
28536 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
28537 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
28538 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
28541 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
28542 Here's the definition:
28546 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
28547 group = <non-white-space string>
28549 description = <string>
28554 @node Emacs for Heathens
28555 @section Emacs for Heathens
28557 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
28558 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
28559 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
28560 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
28561 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
28562 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
28563 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
28567 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
28568 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
28573 @subsection Keystrokes
28577 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
28580 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
28583 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
28584 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
28585 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
28586 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
28587 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
28588 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
28590 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
28591 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
28592 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
28593 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
28594 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
28595 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
28596 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
28598 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
28599 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
28600 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
28601 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
28602 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
28603 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
28604 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
28606 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
28607 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
28608 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
28609 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
28610 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
28616 @subsection Emacs Lisp
28618 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
28619 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
28620 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
28621 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
28623 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
28624 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
28625 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
28626 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
28627 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
28628 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
28629 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
28632 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
28633 write the following:
28636 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
28639 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
28640 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
28641 you can go and fill your @file{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
28644 If you have put that thing in your @file{.emacs} file, it will be read
28645 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
28646 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
28647 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
28648 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
28650 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
28651 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
28652 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
28656 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
28660 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
28663 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
28664 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
28667 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
28670 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
28671 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
28674 @include gnus-faq.texi
28694 @c Local Variables:
28696 @c coding: iso-8859-1
28700 arch-tag: c9fa47e7-78ca-4681-bda9-9fef45d1c819