9 @documentencoding ISO-8859-1
12 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
13 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
16 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
17 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or
18 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
19 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU Manual'',
20 and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the license
21 is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation License''.
23 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have the freedom to copy and
24 modify this GNU manual. Buying copies from the FSF supports it in
25 developing GNU and promoting software freedom.''
31 \documentclass[twoside,a4paper,openright,11pt]{book}
32 \usepackage[latin1]{inputenc}
33 \usepackage{pagestyle}
36 \input{gnusconfig.tex}
38 \ifx\pdfoutput\undefined
40 \usepackage[pdftex,bookmarks,colorlinks=true]{hyperref}
48 % Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change the following line:
49 \newcommand{\gnusversionname}{No Gnus v0.11}
50 \newcommand{\gnuschaptername}{}
51 \newcommand{\gnussectionname}{}
53 \newcommand{\gnusbackslash}{/}
55 \newcommand{\gnusref}[1]{``#1'' on page \pageref{#1}}
56 \ifx\pdfoutput\undefined
57 \newcommand{\gnusuref}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
59 \newcommand{\gnusuref}[1]{\href{#1}{\gnustt{#1}}}
61 \newcommand{\gnusxref}[1]{See ``#1'' on page \pageref{#1}}
62 \newcommand{\gnuspxref}[1]{see ``#1'' on page \pageref{#1}}
64 \newcommand{\gnuskindex}[1]{\index{#1}}
65 \newcommand{\gnusindex}[1]{\index{#1}}
67 \newcommand{\gnustt}[1]{{\gnusselectttfont{}#1}}
68 \newcommand{\gnuscode}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
69 \newcommand{\gnusasis}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
70 \newcommand{\gnusurl}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
71 \newcommand{\gnuscommand}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
72 \newcommand{\gnusenv}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
73 \newcommand{\gnussamp}[1]{``{\fontencoding{OT1}\gnusselectttfont{}#1}''}
74 \newcommand{\gnuslisp}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
75 \newcommand{\gnuskbd}[1]{`\gnustt{#1}'}
76 \newcommand{\gnuskey}[1]{`\gnustt{#1}'}
77 \newcommand{\gnusfile}[1]{`\gnustt{#1}'}
78 \newcommand{\gnusdfn}[1]{\textit{#1}}
79 \newcommand{\gnusi}[1]{\textit{#1}}
80 \newcommand{\gnusr}[1]{\textrm{#1}}
81 \newcommand{\gnusstrong}[1]{\textbf{#1}}
82 \newcommand{\gnusemph}[1]{\textit{#1}}
83 \newcommand{\gnusvar}[1]{{\fontsize{10pt}{10}\selectfont\textsl{\textsf{#1}}}}
84 \newcommand{\gnussc}[1]{\textsc{#1}}
85 \newcommand{\gnustitle}[1]{{\huge\textbf{#1}}}
86 \newcommand{\gnusversion}[1]{{\small\textit{#1}}}
87 \newcommand{\gnusauthor}[1]{{\large\textbf{#1}}}
88 \newcommand{\gnusresult}[1]{\gnustt{=> #1}}
89 \newcommand{\gnusacronym}[1]{\textsc{#1}}
90 \newcommand{\gnusemail}[1]{\textit{#1}}
92 \newcommand{\gnusbullet}{{${\bullet}$}}
93 \newcommand{\gnusdollar}{\$}
94 \newcommand{\gnusampersand}{\&}
95 \newcommand{\gnuspercent}{\%}
96 \newcommand{\gnushash}{\#}
97 \newcommand{\gnushat}{\symbol{"5E}}
98 \newcommand{\gnusunderline}{\symbol{"5F}}
99 \newcommand{\gnusnot}{$\neg$}
100 \newcommand{\gnustilde}{\symbol{"7E}}
101 \newcommand{\gnusless}{{$<$}}
102 \newcommand{\gnusgreater}{{$>$}}
103 \newcommand{\gnusbraceleft}{{$>$}}
104 \newcommand{\gnusbraceright}{{$>$}}
106 \newcommand{\gnushead}{\raisebox{-1cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-head,height=1cm}}}
107 \newcommand{\gnusinteresting}{
108 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\gnushead]{\gnushead}
111 \newcommand{\gnuscleardoublepage}{\ifodd\count0\mbox{}\clearpage\thispagestyle{empty}\mbox{}\clearpage\else\clearpage\fi}
113 \newcommand{\gnuspagechapter}[1]{
117 \newdimen{\gnusdimen}
120 \newcommand{\gnuschapter}[2]{
122 \ifdim \gnusdimen = 0pt\setcounter{page}{1}\pagestyle{gnus}\pagenumbering{arabic} \gnusdimen 1pt\fi
124 \renewcommand{\gnussectionname}{}
125 \renewcommand{\gnuschaptername}{#2}
126 \thispagestyle{empty}
128 \begin{picture}(500,500)(0,0)
129 \put(480,350){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{#1}}
130 \put(40,300){\makebox(500,50)[bl]{{\Huge\bf{#2}}}}
135 \newcommand{\gnusfigure}[3]{
137 \mbox{}\ifodd\count0\hspace*{-0.8cm}\else\hspace*{-3cm}\fi\begin{picture}(440,#2)
144 \newcommand{\gnusicon}[1]{
145 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\raisebox{-1.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/#1-up,height=1.5cm}}]{\raisebox{-1cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/#1-up,height=1cm}}}
148 \newcommand{\gnuspicon}[1]{
149 \margindex{\epsfig{figure=#1,width=2cm}}
152 \newcommand{\gnusxface}[2]{
153 \margindex{\epsfig{figure=#1,width=1cm}\epsfig{figure=#2,width=1cm}}
156 \newcommand{\gnussmiley}[2]{
157 \margindex{\makebox[2cm]{\hfill\epsfig{figure=#1,width=0.5cm}\hfill\epsfig{figure=#2,width=0.5cm}\hfill}}
160 \newcommand{\gnusitemx}[1]{\mbox{}\vspace*{-\itemsep}\vspace*{-\parsep}\item#1}
162 \newcommand{\gnussection}[1]{
163 \renewcommand{\gnussectionname}{#1}
167 \newenvironment{codelist}%
172 \newenvironment{asislist}%
177 \newenvironment{kbdlist}%
183 \newenvironment{dfnlist}%
188 \newenvironment{stronglist}%
193 \newenvironment{samplist}%
198 \newenvironment{varlist}%
203 \newenvironment{emphlist}%
208 \newlength\gnusheadtextwidth
209 \setlength{\gnusheadtextwidth}{\headtextwidth}
210 \addtolength{\gnusheadtextwidth}{1cm}
212 \newpagestyle{gnuspreamble}%
217 \hspace*{-0.23cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\mbox{}}\textbf{\hfill\roman{page}}}
221 \hspace*{-3.25cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\roman{page}\hfill\mbox{}}}
230 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo,height=1cm}}
232 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo,height=1cm}}
237 \newpagestyle{gnusindex}%
242 \hspace*{-0.23cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\gnuschaptername\hfill\arabic{page}}}}
246 \hspace*{-3.25cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\arabic{page}\hfill\gnuschaptername}}}
254 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo,height=1cm}}
256 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo,height=1cm}}
266 \makebox[12cm]{\hspace*{3.1cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\arabic{chapter}.\arabic{section}} \textbf{\gnussectionname\hfill\arabic{page}}}}}
270 \makebox[12cm]{\hspace*{-2.95cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\arabic{page}\hfill\gnuschaptername}}}}
278 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo,height=1cm}}
280 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo,height=1cm}}
285 \pagenumbering{roman}
286 \pagestyle{gnuspreamble}
297 %\addtolength{\oddsidemargin}{-5cm}
298 %\addtolength{\evensidemargin}{-5cm}
300 \addtolength{\textheight}{2cm}
302 \gnustitle{\gnustitlename}\hfill\gnusversion{\gnusversionname}\\
305 \hspace*{0cm}\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo,height=15cm}
308 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
315 \thispagestyle{empty}
329 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
334 @setchapternewpage odd
341 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
343 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
349 @top The Gnus Newsreader
353 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
354 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@acronym{NNTP}, local
355 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
358 @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change the following line:
359 This manual corresponds to No Gnus v0.11.
370 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
371 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
373 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
374 being accused of plagiarism:
376 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
377 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
378 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
379 can even read news with it!
381 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
382 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
383 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
384 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
385 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
388 @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change the following line:
389 This manual corresponds to No Gnus v0.11.
391 @heading Other related manuals
393 @item Message manual: Composing messages
394 @item Emacs-MIME: Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
395 @item Sieve: Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
396 @item PGG: @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
397 @item SASL: @acronym{SASL} authentication in Emacs.
403 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
404 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
405 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
406 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
407 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
408 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
409 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
410 * Various:: General purpose settings.
411 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
412 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, @acronym{FAQ}, History, Internals.
413 * GNU Free Documentation License:: The license for this documentation.
414 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
415 * Key Index:: Key Index.
417 Other related manuals
419 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
420 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
421 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
422 * PGG:(pgg). @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
423 * SASL:(sasl). @acronym{SASL} authentication in Emacs.
426 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
430 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
431 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
432 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
433 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
434 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
435 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
436 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
437 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
438 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
439 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
440 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
444 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
445 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
446 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
450 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
451 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
452 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
453 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
454 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
455 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
456 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
457 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
458 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
459 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
460 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
461 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
462 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
463 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
464 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
465 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
466 * Non-ASCII Group Names:: Accessing groups of non-English names.
467 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
471 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
472 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
473 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
477 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
478 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
479 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
480 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
481 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
485 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
486 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
487 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
488 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
489 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
493 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
494 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
495 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
496 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
497 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
498 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
499 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
500 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
501 * Threading:: How threads are made.
502 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
503 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
504 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
505 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
506 * Sticky Articles:: Article buffers that are not reused.
507 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
508 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
509 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
510 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
511 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
512 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
513 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
514 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
515 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
516 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
517 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
518 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
519 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
520 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
521 or reselecting the current group.
522 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
523 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
524 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
525 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
527 Summary Buffer Format
529 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
530 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
531 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
532 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
536 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
537 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
539 Reply, Followup and Post
541 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
542 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
543 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
544 * Canceling and Superseding::
548 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
549 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
550 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
551 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
552 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
553 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
557 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
558 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
560 Customizing Threading
562 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
563 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
564 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
565 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
569 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
570 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
571 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
572 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
573 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
574 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
578 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
579 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
580 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
584 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
585 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
586 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
587 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
588 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
589 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
590 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
591 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
592 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
593 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
594 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
596 Alternative Approaches
598 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
599 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
601 Various Summary Stuff
603 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
604 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
605 * Summary Generation Commands::
606 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
610 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
611 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
612 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
613 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
614 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
618 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
619 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
620 * POP before SMTP:: You cannot send a mail unless you read a mail.
621 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
622 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
623 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
624 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
625 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
626 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
630 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
631 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
632 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
633 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
634 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
635 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
636 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
637 * Email Based Diary:: Using mails to manage diary events in Gnus.
638 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
642 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
643 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
644 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
645 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
646 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
647 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
648 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
652 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
653 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
657 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
658 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
659 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
660 * NNTP marks:: Storing marks for @acronym{NNTP} servers.
664 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
665 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
666 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
667 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
668 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
669 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
670 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
671 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
672 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
673 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
674 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
675 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
676 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
680 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
681 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
682 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
684 Choosing a Mail Back End
686 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
687 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
688 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
689 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
690 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
691 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
692 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
697 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
698 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
699 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
700 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
701 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
702 * Customizing W3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/W3 from Gnus.
706 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
707 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
708 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
709 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
710 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
711 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
715 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
716 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
717 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
718 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
719 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
723 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
727 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
728 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
729 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
733 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
734 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
738 * The NNDiary Back End:: Basic setup and usage.
739 * The Gnus Diary Library:: Utility toolkit on top of nndiary.
740 * Sending or Not Sending:: A final note on sending diary messages.
744 * Diary Messages:: What makes a message valid for nndiary.
745 * Running NNDiary:: NNDiary has two modes of operation.
746 * Customizing NNDiary:: Bells and whistles.
748 The Gnus Diary Library
750 * Diary Summary Line Format:: A nicer summary buffer line format.
751 * Diary Articles Sorting:: A nicer way to sort messages.
752 * Diary Headers Generation:: Not doing it manually.
753 * Diary Group Parameters:: Not handling them manually.
757 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
758 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
759 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
760 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
761 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
762 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
763 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
764 * Agent and flags:: How the Agent maintains flags.
765 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
766 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
767 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
768 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
769 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
770 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
774 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
775 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
776 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
780 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
781 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
782 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
786 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
787 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
788 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
789 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
790 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
791 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
792 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
793 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
794 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
795 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
796 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
797 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
798 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
799 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
800 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
801 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
805 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
806 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
807 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
811 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
812 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
813 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
814 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
815 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
816 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
817 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
818 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
819 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
820 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
821 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
822 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
823 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
824 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
825 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
826 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
827 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
828 * Thwarting Email Spam:: Simple ways to avoid unsolicited commercial email.
829 * Spam Package:: A package for filtering and processing spam.
830 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
831 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
835 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
836 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
837 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
838 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
839 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
840 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
841 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
842 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
846 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
847 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
848 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were
850 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
851 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
855 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
856 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
857 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
858 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
862 * Spam Package Introduction::
863 * Filtering Incoming Mail::
864 * Detecting Spam in Groups::
865 * Spam and Ham Processors::
866 * Spam Package Configuration Examples::
868 * Extending the Spam package::
869 * Spam Statistics Package::
871 Spam Statistics Package
873 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
874 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
875 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
879 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
880 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
881 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
882 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
883 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
884 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
885 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
886 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
887 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
891 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
892 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
893 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
894 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
895 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
896 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
897 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
898 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
899 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
903 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
904 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
905 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
906 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
907 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
908 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
909 * No Gnus:: Very punny.
913 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
914 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
915 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
916 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
920 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
921 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
922 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
923 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
924 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
925 * Group Info:: The group info format.
926 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
927 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
928 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
932 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
933 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
934 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
935 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
936 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
937 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
941 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
942 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
946 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
947 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
953 @chapter Starting Gnus
956 If you haven't used Emacs much before using Gnus, read @ref{Emacs for
961 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
962 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
963 your Emacs. If not, you should customize the variable
964 @code{gnus-select-method} as described in @ref{Finding the News}. For a
965 minimal setup for posting should also customize the variables
966 @code{user-full-name} and @code{user-mail-address}.
968 @findex gnus-other-frame
969 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
970 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
971 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
973 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
974 variables in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file. This file is similar to
975 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when Gnus starts.
977 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
978 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
981 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
982 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
983 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
984 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
985 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
986 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
987 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
988 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
989 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
990 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
994 @node Finding the News
995 @section Finding the News
998 @vindex gnus-select-method
1000 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
1001 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
1002 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
1003 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
1006 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @acronym{NNTP} server is where
1007 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
1010 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
1013 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
1016 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
1019 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1020 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1021 server is running Leafnode (which is a simple, standalone private news
1022 server); in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1024 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1026 @cindex @acronym{NNTP} server
1027 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
1028 @env{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1029 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1030 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter.
1031 If that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs
1032 as an @acronym{NNTP} server. That's a long shot, though.
1034 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1035 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1036 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1037 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1039 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1040 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1041 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1042 @acronym{NNTP} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1043 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
1044 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1045 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1046 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1047 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1050 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1052 However, if you use one @acronym{NNTP} server regularly and are just
1053 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1054 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1055 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1056 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1057 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1059 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1061 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1062 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1063 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1064 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1065 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1066 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1069 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1070 you would typically set this variable to
1073 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1076 Note: the @acronym{NNTP} back end stores marks in marks files
1077 (@pxref{NNTP marks}). This feature makes it easy to share marks between
1078 several Gnus installations, but may slow down things a bit when fetching
1079 new articles. @xref{NNTP marks}, for more information.
1082 @node The First Time
1083 @section The First Time
1084 @cindex first time usage
1086 If no startup files exist (@pxref{Startup Files}), Gnus will try to
1087 determine what groups should be subscribed by default.
1089 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1090 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
1091 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1092 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1095 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1096 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1097 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1099 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1100 help you with most common problems.
1102 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1103 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1107 @node The Server is Down
1108 @section The Server is Down
1109 @cindex server errors
1111 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1112 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1113 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1115 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1116 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1117 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1118 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1119 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1120 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1121 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1123 @findex gnus-no-server
1124 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1126 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1127 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1128 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1129 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1130 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1131 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1132 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1136 @section Slave Gnusae
1139 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1140 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1141 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1142 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1144 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1145 @file{.newsrc} file.
1147 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1148 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1149 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1150 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1151 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1152 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1153 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1156 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1157 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1158 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1159 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1160 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1161 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1162 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1163 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1165 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1166 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1168 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1169 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1170 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1171 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1172 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1179 @cindex subscription
1181 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1182 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1183 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1184 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1185 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1186 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1187 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1188 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1189 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1192 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1193 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1194 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1198 @node Checking New Groups
1199 @subsection Checking New Groups
1201 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1202 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1203 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1204 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1205 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1206 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1207 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1208 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1209 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1210 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1212 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1213 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1214 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1215 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1216 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1217 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1218 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1219 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1220 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1221 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1222 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1224 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1225 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1226 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1227 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1228 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1229 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1232 @node Subscription Methods
1233 @subsection Subscription Methods
1235 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1236 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1237 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1239 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1240 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1242 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1246 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1247 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1248 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1249 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1250 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1252 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1253 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1254 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1255 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1257 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1258 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1259 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1261 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1262 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1263 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1264 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1265 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1266 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1267 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1268 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1269 up. Or something like that.
1271 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1272 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1273 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1274 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1275 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1277 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1278 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1279 Kill all new groups.
1281 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1282 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1283 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1284 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1285 topic parameter that looks like
1291 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1294 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1299 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1300 A closely related variable is
1301 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1302 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1303 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1304 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1307 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1308 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1309 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1310 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1313 @node Filtering New Groups
1314 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1316 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1317 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1318 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1321 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1324 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1325 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1326 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1327 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1328 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1329 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1330 subscribing these groups.
1331 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1332 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1334 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1335 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1336 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1337 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1338 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1339 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1340 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1341 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1343 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1344 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1345 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1346 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous,
1347 but I thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is
1348 more meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is
1349 used more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new
1350 groups that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1351 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1352 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1355 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1356 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1359 @node Changing Servers
1360 @section Changing Servers
1361 @cindex changing servers
1363 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another.
1364 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1365 very flaky and you want to use another.
1367 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1368 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1372 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1373 @acronym{NNTP} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1374 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1375 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1378 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1379 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1380 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1381 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1383 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1384 @findex gnus-change-server
1385 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1386 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1387 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1388 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1389 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1391 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1392 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1393 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1394 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1395 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1397 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1398 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1399 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1400 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1401 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1402 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1404 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1405 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1406 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1407 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1409 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1410 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1411 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1412 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1413 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1414 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1415 cache for all groups).
1419 @section Startup Files
1420 @cindex startup files
1425 Most common Unix news readers use a shared startup file called
1426 @file{.newsrc}. This file contains all the information about what
1427 groups are subscribed, and which articles in these groups have been
1430 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1431 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1432 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1433 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1434 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1435 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1436 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1438 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1439 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1440 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1441 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1442 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1443 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1445 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1446 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1447 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1448 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1449 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1450 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1451 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1452 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1453 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which can be
1454 convenient if you use a different news reader occasionally, and you
1455 want to read a different subset of the available groups with that
1458 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1459 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1460 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1461 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1462 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1463 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1464 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1465 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1466 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1467 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1468 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1469 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1471 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1472 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1473 @vindex version-control
1474 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1475 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1476 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1477 If you want version control for this file, set
1478 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1479 @code{version-control} variable.
1481 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1482 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1483 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1484 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1485 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1486 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1487 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1488 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1489 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1490 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1493 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1494 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1496 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1497 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1500 @vindex gnus-init-file
1501 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1502 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1503 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus-init} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1504 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1505 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1506 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1507 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1508 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1509 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1510 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order). If Emacs was invoked with
1511 the @option{-q} or @option{--no-init-file} options (@pxref{Initial
1512 Options, ,Initial Options, emacs, The Emacs Manual}), Gnus doesn't read
1513 @code{gnus-init-file}.
1518 @cindex dribble file
1521 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1522 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1523 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1524 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1525 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1528 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1529 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1532 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1533 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1534 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1536 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1537 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1538 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1539 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1540 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1541 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1543 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1544 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1545 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1548 @node The Active File
1549 @section The Active File
1551 @cindex ignored groups
1553 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1554 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1555 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1557 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1558 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1559 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1560 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1561 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1562 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1563 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1566 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1567 @c if you set it to anything else.
1569 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1571 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1572 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1573 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1575 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1576 you actually subscribe to.
1578 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1579 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1580 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1581 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1583 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1584 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1585 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1586 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1587 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1588 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1590 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1591 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1592 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1595 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1596 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1597 @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1598 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1599 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1600 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1602 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1603 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1605 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1606 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1608 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1609 secondary select methods.
1612 @node Startup Variables
1613 @section Startup Variables
1617 @item gnus-load-hook
1618 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1619 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1620 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1621 times you start Gnus.
1623 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1624 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1625 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1627 @item gnus-startup-hook
1628 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1629 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1631 @item gnus-started-hook
1632 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1633 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1636 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1637 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1638 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1639 generating the group buffer.
1641 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1642 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1643 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1644 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1645 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1646 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1647 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1648 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1650 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1651 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1652 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1653 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1654 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1655 @file{~/.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1657 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1658 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1659 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1661 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1662 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1663 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1665 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1666 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1667 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1668 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1674 @chapter Group Buffer
1675 @cindex group buffer
1677 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1679 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1680 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1681 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1682 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1683 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1684 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1685 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1686 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1687 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1688 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1689 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1690 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1691 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1692 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1693 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1694 @c human rights at 9...
1697 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1698 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1699 long as Gnus is active.
1703 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1704 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1705 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1706 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1707 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1708 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1709 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1710 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1716 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1717 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1718 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1719 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1720 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1721 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1722 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1723 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1724 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1725 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1726 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1727 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1728 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1729 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1730 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1731 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1732 * Non-ASCII Group Names:: Accessing groups of non-English names.
1733 * Searching:: Mail search engines.
1734 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1738 @node Group Buffer Format
1739 @section Group Buffer Format
1742 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1743 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
1744 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1747 You can customize the Group Mode tool bar, see @kbd{M-x
1748 customize-apropos RET gnus-group-tool-bar}. This feature is only
1751 The tool bar icons are now (de)activated correctly depending on the
1752 cursor position. Therefore, moving around in the Group Buffer is
1753 slower. You can disable this via the variable
1754 @code{gnus-group-update-tool-bar}. Its default value depends on your
1757 @node Group Line Specification
1758 @subsection Group Line Specification
1759 @cindex group buffer format
1761 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1762 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1764 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1767 25: news.announce.newusers
1768 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1773 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1774 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1775 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1776 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1778 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1779 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1780 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1781 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1782 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1783 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1785 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1787 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1788 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1789 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1790 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1791 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1793 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1794 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1795 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1797 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1802 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1805 Whether the group is subscribed.
1808 Level of subscribedness.
1811 Number of unread articles.
1814 Number of dormant articles.
1817 Number of ticked articles.
1820 Number of read articles.
1823 Number of unseen articles.
1826 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1827 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1829 Gnus uses this estimation because the @acronym{NNTP} protocol provides
1830 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1831 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1832 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1833 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1834 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1835 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job.
1837 The nnml backend (@pxref{Mail Spool}) has a feature called ``group
1838 compaction'' which circumvents this deficiency: the idea is to
1839 renumber all articles from 1, removing all gaps between numbers, hence
1840 getting a correct total count. Other backends may support this in the
1841 future. In order to keep your total article count relatively up to
1842 date, you might want to compact your groups (or even directly your
1843 server) from time to time. @xref{Misc Group Stuff}, @xref{Server Commands}.
1846 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1849 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1858 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1859 comment element in the group parameters.
1862 Newsgroup description. You need to read the group descriptions
1863 before these will appear, and to do that, you either have to set
1864 @code{gnus-read-active-file} or use the group buffer @kbd{M-d}
1868 @samp{m} if moderated.
1871 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1877 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1883 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1887 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1890 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1891 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1892 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1893 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1894 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1897 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1899 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1903 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1906 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1910 The disk space used by the articles fetched by both the cache and
1911 agent. The value is automatically scaled to bytes(B), kilobytes(K),
1912 megabytes(M), or gigabytes(G) to minimize the column width. A format
1913 of %7F is sufficient for a fixed-width column.
1916 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1917 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1918 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1919 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1920 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1921 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1926 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1927 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1928 group, or a bogus native group.
1931 @node Group Mode Line Specification
1932 @subsection Group Mode Line Specification
1933 @cindex group mode line
1935 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1936 The mode line can be changed by setting
1937 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1938 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1942 The native news server.
1944 The native select method.
1948 @node Group Highlighting
1949 @subsection Group Highlighting
1950 @cindex highlighting
1951 @cindex group highlighting
1953 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1954 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1955 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1956 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1957 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1959 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1963 (cond (window-system
1964 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1965 (defface my-group-face-1
1966 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1967 (defface my-group-face-2
1968 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t)))
1969 "Second group face")
1970 (defface my-group-face-3
1971 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1972 (defface my-group-face-4
1973 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1974 (defface my-group-face-5
1975 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1977 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1978 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1979 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1980 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1981 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1982 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1985 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1987 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1994 The number of unread articles in the group.
1998 Whether the group is a mail group.
2000 The level of the group.
2002 The score of the group.
2004 The number of ticked articles in the group.
2006 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
2007 @var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
2009 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
2010 topic being inserted.
2013 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
2014 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
2015 functions for snarfing info on the group.
2017 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
2018 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
2019 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
2020 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
2021 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
2024 @node Group Maneuvering
2025 @section Group Maneuvering
2026 @cindex group movement
2028 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
2029 expected, hopefully.
2035 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
2036 Go to the next group that has unread articles
2037 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
2043 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
2044 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
2045 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
2049 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2050 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2054 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2055 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2059 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2060 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2061 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2065 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2066 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2067 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2070 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2076 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2077 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2078 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2083 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2084 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2085 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2089 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2090 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2091 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2094 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2095 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2096 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2097 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2100 @vindex gnus-summary-next-group-on-exit
2101 If @code{gnus-summary-next-group-on-exit} is @code{t}, when a summary is
2102 exited, the point in the group buffer is moved to the next unread group.
2103 Otherwise, the point is set to the group just exited. The default is
2106 @node Selecting a Group
2107 @section Selecting a Group
2108 @cindex group selection
2113 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2114 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2115 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2116 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2117 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2118 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2119 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
2120 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
2121 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
2122 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
2124 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2125 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2126 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2128 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2129 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2134 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2135 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2136 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2137 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2138 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2142 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2143 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2144 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2145 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2146 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2147 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2148 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2149 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2150 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2151 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2154 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2155 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2156 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2157 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2158 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2161 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2162 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2163 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2164 doing any processing of its contents
2165 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2166 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2167 manner will have no permanent effects.
2171 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2172 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should
2173 consider to be a big group. If it is @code{nil}, no groups are
2174 considered big. The default value is 200. If the group has more
2175 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2176 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many
2177 articles should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a
2178 negative number (@var{-n}), the @var{n} oldest articles will be
2179 fetched. If it is positive, the @var{n} articles that have arrived
2180 most recently will be fetched.
2182 @vindex gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup
2183 @code{gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup} is the same as
2184 @code{gnus-large-newsgroup}, but is only used for ephemeral
2187 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles
2188 In groups in some news servers, there might be a big gap between a few
2189 very old articles that will never be expired and the recent ones. In
2190 such a case, the server will return the data like @code{(1 . 30000000)}
2191 for the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, for example. Even if there
2192 are actually only the articles 1-10 and 29999900-30000000, Gnus doesn't
2193 know it at first and prepares for getting 30000000 articles. However,
2194 it will consume hundreds megabytes of memories and might make Emacs get
2195 stuck as the case may be. If you use such news servers, set the
2196 variable @code{gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles} to a positive number.
2197 The value means that Gnus ignores articles other than this number of the
2198 latest ones in every group. For instance, the value 10000 makes Gnus
2199 get only the articles 29990001-30000000 (if the latest article number is
2200 30000000 in a group). Note that setting this variable to a number might
2201 prevent you from reading very old articles. The default value of the
2202 variable @code{gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles} is @code{nil}, which
2203 means Gnus never ignores old articles.
2205 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2206 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2207 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2208 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2209 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2210 Which article this is is controlled by the
2211 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2217 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2220 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2223 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2225 @item unseen-or-unread
2226 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2227 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2231 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2235 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2236 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2238 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2239 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2240 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2241 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2245 @node Subscription Commands
2246 @section Subscription Commands
2247 @cindex subscription
2255 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2256 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2257 Toggle subscription to the current group
2258 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2264 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2265 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2266 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2267 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2273 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2274 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2275 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2281 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2282 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2285 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2286 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2287 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2288 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2289 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2295 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2296 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2300 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2301 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2304 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2305 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2306 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2307 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2308 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2309 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2310 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2311 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2312 @file{.newsrc} file.
2316 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2326 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2327 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2328 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2329 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2330 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2331 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2336 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2337 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2338 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2342 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2343 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2344 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2346 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2347 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2348 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2349 If you have switched from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another, all your marks
2350 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2351 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2358 @section Group Levels
2362 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2363 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2364 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2365 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2366 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2368 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2374 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2375 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2376 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2377 prompted for a level.
2380 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2381 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2382 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2383 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2384 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2385 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2386 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2387 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2388 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2389 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2390 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2391 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2392 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2393 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2394 reasons of efficiency.
2396 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2397 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2399 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2400 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2401 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2402 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2403 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2404 groups are hidden, in a way.
2406 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2407 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2408 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2409 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2410 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2411 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2413 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2414 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2415 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2416 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2417 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2418 list of killed groups.)
2420 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2421 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2422 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2424 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2425 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2426 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2427 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2428 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2429 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2430 relevant valid ranges.
2432 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2433 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2434 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2435 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2436 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2437 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2440 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2441 one with the best level.
2443 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2444 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2445 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2448 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2449 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2450 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2451 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2454 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2455 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2456 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2457 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2459 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2460 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2461 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2462 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2463 to 5. The default is 6.
2467 @section Group Score
2472 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2473 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2474 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2477 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2478 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2479 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2480 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2481 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2482 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2483 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2484 least significant part.))
2486 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2487 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2488 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2489 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2490 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2491 action after each summary exit, you can add
2492 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2493 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2494 slow things down somewhat.
2497 @node Marking Groups
2498 @section Marking Groups
2499 @cindex marking groups
2501 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2502 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2503 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2504 bidding on those groups.
2506 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2507 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2508 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2516 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2517 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2523 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2524 Remove the mark from the current group
2525 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2529 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2530 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2534 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2535 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2539 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2540 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2544 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2545 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2546 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2549 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2551 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2552 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2553 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2554 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2555 the command to be executed.
2558 @node Foreign Groups
2559 @section Foreign Groups
2560 @cindex foreign groups
2562 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2563 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2564 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2565 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2568 Changes from the group editing commands are stored in
2569 @file{~/.newsrc.eld} (@code{gnus-startup-file}). An alternative is the
2570 variable @code{gnus-parameters}, @xref{Group Parameters}.
2576 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2577 @cindex making groups
2578 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2579 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2580 to subscribe to @acronym{NNTP} groups (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
2584 @findex gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group
2585 Make an ephemeral group (@code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group}). Gnus
2586 will prompt you for a name, a method and an @dfn{address}.
2590 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2591 @cindex renaming groups
2592 Rename the current group to something else
2593 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2594 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2600 @findex gnus-group-customize
2601 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2605 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2606 @cindex renaming groups
2607 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2608 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2612 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2613 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2614 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2618 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2619 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2620 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2624 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2626 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2627 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2632 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2633 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2637 @cindex (ding) archive
2638 @cindex archive group
2639 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2640 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2641 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2642 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2643 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2644 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2645 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2649 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2651 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2652 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2653 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2654 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2658 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2660 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2661 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2662 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2666 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2667 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2669 Make a group based on some file or other
2670 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2671 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2672 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2673 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2674 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2675 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2676 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2677 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2678 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2682 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2683 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2684 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2685 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2689 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2693 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2694 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2695 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2696 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2697 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2698 @xref{Web Searches}.
2700 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2701 to a particular group by using a match string like
2702 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2706 @findex gnus-group-make-rss-group
2707 Make a group based on an @acronym{RSS} feed
2708 (@code{gnus-group-make-rss-group}). You will be prompted for an URL.
2712 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2713 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2714 This function will delete the current group
2715 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2716 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2717 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2718 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2719 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} groups), though.
2723 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2724 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2725 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2729 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2730 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2731 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2734 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2737 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2738 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2739 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2740 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2741 groups from different @acronym{NNTP} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2742 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2746 The following commands create ephemeral groups. They can be called not
2747 only from the Group buffer, but in any Gnus buffer.
2750 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group
2751 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group
2752 @vindex gnus-gmane-group-download-format
2753 Read an ephemeral group on Gmane.org. The articles are downloaded via
2754 HTTP using the URL specified by @code{gnus-gmane-group-download-format}.
2755 Gnus will prompt you for a group name, the start article number and an
2758 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group-url
2759 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group-url
2760 This command is similar to @code{gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group}, but
2761 the group name and the article number and range are constructed from a
2762 given @acronym{URL}. Supported @acronym{URL} formats include e.g.
2763 @url{http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12300/focus=12399},
2764 @url{http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/},
2765 @url{http://article.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/},
2766 @url{http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/}, and
2767 @url{http://news.gmane.org/group/gmane.foo.bar/thread=12345}.
2769 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group
2770 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group
2771 Read an Emacs bug report in an ephemeral group. Gnus will prompt for a
2772 bug number. The default is the number at point. The @acronym{URL} is
2773 specified in @code{gnus-bug-group-download-format-alist}.
2775 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-debian-bug-group
2776 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-debian-bug-group
2777 Read a Debian bug report in an ephemeral group. Analog to
2778 @code{gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group}.
2781 Some of these command are also useful for article buttons, @xref{Article
2789 '("#\\([0-9]+\\)\\>" 1
2790 (string-match "\\<emacs\\>" (or gnus-newsgroup-name ""))
2791 gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group 1))
2795 @node Group Parameters
2796 @section Group Parameters
2797 @cindex group parameters
2799 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2801 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2802 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2803 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2804 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2805 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2806 Additionally, you can set group parameters via the
2807 @code{gnus-parameters} variable, see below.
2809 Here's an example group parameter list:
2812 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2816 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
2817 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2818 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2819 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2821 Some parameters have correspondent customizable variables, each of which
2822 is an alist of regexps and values.
2824 The following group parameters can be used:
2829 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2832 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2835 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2836 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2837 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2838 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2839 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2841 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2842 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2843 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2844 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2845 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2846 list address instead.
2848 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2852 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2855 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2858 It is totally ignored
2859 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2860 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2862 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2863 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2864 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2865 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2866 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2868 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2869 @cindex mail list groups
2870 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2871 entering summary buffer.
2873 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2878 @cindex Mail-Followup-To
2879 @findex gnus-find-subscribed-addresses
2880 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2881 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2882 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2883 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2884 headers for your posts to these lists. The second step is to put the
2885 following in your @file{.gnus.el}
2888 (setq message-subscribed-address-functions
2889 '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
2892 @xref{Mailing Lists, ,Mailing Lists, message, The Message Manual}, for
2893 a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2897 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2898 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2899 of whether it has any unread articles.
2901 This parameter cannot be set via @code{gnus-parameters}. See
2902 @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} as an alternative.
2904 @item broken-reply-to
2905 @cindex broken-reply-to
2906 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2907 headers in this group are to be ignored, and for the header to be hidden
2908 if @code{reply-to} is part of @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}. This
2909 can be useful if you're reading a mailing list group where the listserv
2910 has inserted @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv
2911 itself. That is broken behavior. So there!
2915 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2916 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2920 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2921 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2922 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2927 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2928 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2929 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2930 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2931 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2932 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2933 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2935 @strong{Caveat}: Adding @code{(gcc-self . t)} to the parameter list of
2936 @code{nntp} groups (or the like) isn't valid. An @code{nntp} server
2937 doesn't accept articles.
2941 @cindex expiring mail
2942 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2943 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2944 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2946 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2949 @cindex total-expire
2950 @cindex expiring mail
2951 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2952 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2953 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2954 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2957 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2961 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2962 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2963 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2964 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2965 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2966 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2967 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2970 @cindex expiry-target
2971 Where expired messages end up. This parameter overrides
2972 @code{nnmail-expiry-target}.
2975 @cindex score file group parameter
2976 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2977 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2978 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2981 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2982 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2983 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2984 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2987 @cindex admin-address
2988 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2989 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2990 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2991 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2995 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2996 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
3000 Display all articles, both read and unread.
3003 Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
3004 entering the group with @kbd{C-u @var{integer}}.
3007 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
3011 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
3013 Here are some examples:
3017 Display only unread articles.
3020 Display everything except expirable articles.
3022 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
3023 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
3027 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
3028 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
3029 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
3030 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
3031 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
3035 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
3036 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
3037 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
3041 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
3042 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
3043 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
3047 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
3048 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
3049 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
3051 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
3053 @item ignored-charsets
3054 @cindex ignored-charset
3055 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
3056 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
3057 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
3059 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
3062 @cindex posting-style
3063 You can store additional posting style information for this group
3064 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
3065 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
3066 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
3067 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
3069 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
3070 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
3071 like this in the group parameters:
3076 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
3077 (signature "Funky Signature"))
3080 If you're using topics to organize your group buffer
3081 (@pxref{Group Topics}), note that posting styles can also be set in
3082 the topics parameters. Posting styles in topic parameters apply to all
3083 groups in this topic. More precisely, the posting-style settings for a
3084 group result from the hierarchical merging of all posting-style
3085 entries in the parameters of this group and all the topics it belongs
3091 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
3092 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
3096 If it is set, and the setting of @code{mail-sources} includes a
3097 @code{group} mail source (@pxref{Mail Sources}), the value is a
3098 mail source for this group.
3102 An item like @code{(banner . @var{regexp})} causes any part of an article
3103 that matches the regular expression @var{regexp} to be stripped. Instead of
3104 @var{regexp}, you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
3105 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
3106 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
3110 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
3111 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
3112 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
3113 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
3115 For example, if the @samp{INBOX.list.sieve} group has the @code{(sieve
3116 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
3117 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
3118 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
3121 if address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com" @{
3122 fileinto "INBOX.list.sieve";
3126 To generate tests for multiple email-addresses use a group parameter
3127 like @code{(sieve address "sender" ("name@@one.org" else@@two.org"))}.
3128 When generating a sieve script (@pxref{Sieve Commands}) Sieve code
3129 like the following is generated:
3132 if address "sender" ["name@@one.org", "else@@two.org"] @{
3133 fileinto "INBOX.list.sieve";
3137 See @pxref{Sieve Commands} for commands and variables that might be of
3138 interest in relation to the sieve parameter.
3140 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve,
3141 Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
3143 @item (agent parameters)
3144 If the agent has been enabled, you can set any of the its parameters
3145 to control the behavior of the agent in individual groups. See Agent
3146 Parameters in @ref{Category Syntax}. Most users will choose to set
3147 agent parameters in either an agent category or group topic to
3148 minimize the configuration effort.
3150 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
3151 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
3152 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
3153 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
3154 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
3155 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
3156 @code{eval}ed there.
3158 Note that this feature sets the variable locally to the summary buffer.
3159 But some variables are evaluated in the article buffer, or in the
3160 message buffer (of a reply or followup or otherwise newly created
3161 message). As a workaround, it might help to add the variable in
3162 question to @code{gnus-newsgroup-variables}. @xref{Various Summary
3163 Stuff}. So if you want to set @code{message-from-style} via the group
3164 parameters, then you may need the following statement elsewhere in your
3165 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3168 (add-to-list 'gnus-newsgroup-variables 'message-from-style)
3171 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
3172 A use for this feature is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
3173 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
3176 nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps
3179 has the tag @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this
3180 tag can be removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for
3181 the group by putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")}
3182 into the group parameters for the group.
3184 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function. If you want to
3185 hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put something like
3186 @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that group.
3187 @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the (meaningless) result of the
3190 Alternatively, since the VARIABLE becomes local to the group, this
3191 pattern can be used to temporarily change a hook. For example, if the
3192 following is added to a group parameter
3195 (gnus-summary-prepared-hook
3196 '(lambda nil (local-set-key "d" (local-key-binding "n"))))
3199 when the group is entered, the 'd' key will not mark the article as
3204 @vindex gnus-parameters
3205 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
3206 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect (For this
3207 case see @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} as an alternative.).
3211 (setq gnus-parameters
3213 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3214 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
3215 (gnus-summary-line-format
3216 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
3220 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
3224 (gnus-use-scoring t))
3228 (broken-reply-to . t))))
3231 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
3232 the @code{to-group} example shows.
3234 @vindex gnus-parameters-case-fold-search
3235 By default, whether comparing the group name and one of those regexps
3236 specified in @code{gnus-parameters} is done in a case-sensitive manner
3237 or a case-insensitive manner depends on the value of
3238 @code{case-fold-search} at the time when the comparison is done. The
3239 value of @code{case-fold-search} is typically @code{t}; it means, for
3240 example, the element @code{("INBOX\\.FOO" (total-expire . t))} might be
3241 applied to both the @samp{INBOX.FOO} group and the @samp{INBOX.foo}
3242 group. If you want to make those regexps always case-sensitive, set the
3243 value of the @code{gnus-parameters-case-fold-search} variable to
3244 @code{nil}. Otherwise, set it to @code{t} if you want to compare them
3245 always in a case-insensitive manner.
3247 You can define different sorting to different groups via
3248 @code{gnus-parameters}. Here is an example to sort an @acronym{NNTP}
3249 group by reverse date to see the latest news at the top and an
3250 @acronym{RSS} group by subject. In this example, the first group is the
3251 Debian daily news group @code{gmane.linux.debian.user.news} from
3252 news.gmane.org. The @acronym{RSS} group corresponds to the Debian
3253 weekly news RSS feed
3254 @url{http://packages.debian.org/unstable/newpkg_main.en.rdf},
3260 '(("nntp.*gmane\\.debian\\.user\\.news"
3261 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3262 (gnus-article-sort-functions '((not gnus-article-sort-by-date)))
3263 (gnus-use-adaptive-scoring nil)
3264 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
3266 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3267 (gnus-article-sort-functions 'gnus-article-sort-by-subject)
3268 (gnus-use-adaptive-scoring nil)
3269 (gnus-use-scoring t)
3270 (gnus-score-find-score-files-function 'gnus-score-find-single)
3271 (gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%d %I%(%[ %s %]%)\n"))))
3275 @node Listing Groups
3276 @section Listing Groups
3277 @cindex group listing
3279 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3287 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3288 List all groups that have unread articles
3289 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3290 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3291 only lists groups of level five (i.e.,
3292 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3299 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3300 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3301 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3302 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3303 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3304 unsubscribed groups).
3308 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3309 List all unread groups on a specific level
3310 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3311 with no unread articles.
3315 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3316 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3317 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3318 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3323 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3324 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3328 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3329 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3330 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3334 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3335 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3339 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3340 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3341 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3342 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3343 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3344 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3345 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3346 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3350 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3351 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3352 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3356 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3357 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3358 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3362 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3363 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3367 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3368 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3372 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3373 List groups limited within the current selection
3374 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3378 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3379 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3383 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3384 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3388 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3389 @cindex visible group parameter
3390 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3391 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3392 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3393 get the same effect.
3395 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3396 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3397 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3398 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3399 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3402 @node Sorting Groups
3403 @section Sorting Groups
3404 @cindex sorting groups
3406 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3407 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3408 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3409 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3410 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3411 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3416 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3417 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3418 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3420 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3421 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3422 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3424 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3425 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3426 Sort by group level.
3428 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3429 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3430 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3432 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3433 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3434 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3435 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3437 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3438 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3439 Sort by number of unread articles.
3441 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3442 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3443 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3445 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3446 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3447 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3452 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3453 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3457 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3458 some sorting criteria:
3462 @kindex G S a (Group)
3463 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3464 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3465 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3468 @kindex G S u (Group)
3469 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3470 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3471 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3474 @kindex G S l (Group)
3475 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3476 Sort the group buffer by group level
3477 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3480 @kindex G S v (Group)
3481 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3482 Sort the group buffer by group score
3483 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3486 @kindex G S r (Group)
3487 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3488 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3489 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3492 @kindex G S m (Group)
3493 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3494 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name@*
3495 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3498 @kindex G S n (Group)
3499 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3500 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3501 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3505 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3506 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3508 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3509 commands will sort in reverse order.
3511 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3515 @kindex G P a (Group)
3516 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3517 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3518 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3521 @kindex G P u (Group)
3522 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3523 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3524 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3527 @kindex G P l (Group)
3528 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3529 Sort the groups by group level
3530 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3533 @kindex G P v (Group)
3534 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3535 Sort the groups by group score
3536 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3539 @kindex G P r (Group)
3540 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3541 Sort the groups by group rank
3542 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3545 @kindex G P m (Group)
3546 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3547 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name@*
3548 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3551 @kindex G P n (Group)
3552 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3553 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3554 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3557 @kindex G P s (Group)
3558 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3559 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3563 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3567 @node Group Maintenance
3568 @section Group Maintenance
3569 @cindex bogus groups
3574 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3575 Find bogus groups and delete them
3576 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3580 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3581 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3582 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3583 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3584 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3588 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3589 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3590 @cindex expiring mail
3591 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3592 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3593 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3594 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3597 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3598 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3599 @cindex expiring mail
3600 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3601 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3606 @node Browse Foreign Server
3607 @section Browse Foreign Server
3608 @cindex foreign servers
3609 @cindex browsing servers
3614 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3615 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3616 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3617 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3620 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3621 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3622 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3623 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3625 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3630 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3631 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3635 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3636 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3639 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3640 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3641 Enter the current group and display the first article
3642 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3645 @kindex RET (Browse)
3646 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3647 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3651 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3652 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3653 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3659 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3660 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3664 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3665 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3669 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3670 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3671 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3676 @section Exiting Gnus
3677 @cindex exiting Gnus
3679 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3684 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3685 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3686 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3687 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3691 @findex gnus-group-exit
3692 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3693 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3697 @findex gnus-group-quit
3698 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3699 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3702 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3703 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3704 @vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
3705 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3706 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3707 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3713 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3714 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3715 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3721 @section Group Topics
3724 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3725 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3726 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3727 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3728 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3729 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3733 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3734 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3745 2: alt.religion.emacs
3748 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3750 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3751 13: comp.sources.unix
3754 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3756 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3757 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3758 is a toggling command.)
3760 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3761 dum@dots{} Nice tune, that@dots{} la la la@dots{} What, you're back?
3762 Yes, and now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed
3763 under @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
3766 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3767 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3768 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3771 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3775 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3776 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3777 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3778 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3779 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3783 @node Topic Commands
3784 @subsection Topic Commands
3785 @cindex topic commands
3787 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3788 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3789 definitions slightly.
3791 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3792 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3793 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3794 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3795 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3796 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3798 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3805 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3806 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3807 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3811 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3813 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3814 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3815 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3816 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3819 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3820 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3821 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3822 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3826 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3827 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3828 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3829 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3835 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3836 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3837 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3841 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3842 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3843 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3846 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3847 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the ``cut'' part of cut and paste. Then,
3848 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the ``Gnus''
3849 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the ``paste'' part of cut and
3850 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3852 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3853 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3857 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3858 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3865 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3867 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3868 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3869 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3870 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3871 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3872 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3876 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3882 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3883 Move the current group to some other topic
3884 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3885 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3889 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3890 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3894 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3895 Copy the current group to some other topic
3896 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3897 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3901 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3902 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3903 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3907 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3908 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3909 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3913 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3914 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3915 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3916 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3917 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3918 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3919 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3922 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3923 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3927 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3928 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3929 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3933 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3934 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3935 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3939 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3940 Toggle hiding empty topics
3941 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3945 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3946 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3947 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3948 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3951 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3952 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3953 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3954 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3955 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3958 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3959 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3960 @cindex expiring mail
3961 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3962 expiry process (if any)
3963 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3967 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3968 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3971 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3972 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3973 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3977 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3978 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3979 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3982 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3983 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3984 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3987 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3988 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3989 Go to the previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3993 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3994 @cindex group parameters
3995 @cindex topic parameters
3997 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3998 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
4003 @node Topic Variables
4004 @subsection Topic Variables
4005 @cindex topic variables
4007 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
4008 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
4010 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
4011 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
4012 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4025 Number of groups in the topic.
4027 Number of unread articles in the topic.
4029 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
4032 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
4033 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
4034 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
4037 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
4038 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
4040 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
4041 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
4042 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
4046 @subsection Topic Sorting
4047 @cindex topic sorting
4049 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
4055 @kindex T S a (Topic)
4056 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
4057 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
4058 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
4061 @kindex T S u (Topic)
4062 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
4063 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
4064 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
4067 @kindex T S l (Topic)
4068 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
4069 Sort the current topic by group level
4070 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
4073 @kindex T S v (Topic)
4074 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
4075 Sort the current topic by group score
4076 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
4079 @kindex T S r (Topic)
4080 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
4081 Sort the current topic by group rank
4082 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
4085 @kindex T S m (Topic)
4086 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
4087 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
4088 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
4091 @kindex T S e (Topic)
4092 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
4093 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
4094 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
4097 @kindex T S s (Topic)
4098 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
4099 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
4100 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
4101 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
4105 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
4106 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
4110 @node Topic Topology
4111 @subsection Topic Topology
4112 @cindex topic topology
4115 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
4122 2: alt.religion.emacs
4125 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
4127 8: comp.binaries.fractals
4128 13: comp.sources.unix
4132 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
4133 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
4134 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
4139 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
4140 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
4144 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
4145 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
4146 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
4147 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
4148 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
4149 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
4151 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
4152 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
4153 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
4156 @node Topic Parameters
4157 @subsection Topic Parameters
4158 @cindex topic parameters
4160 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent
4161 (and ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid
4162 topic parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}). When the agent is
4163 enabled, all agent parameters (See Agent Parameters in @ref{Category
4164 Syntax}) are also valid topic parameters.
4166 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
4171 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
4172 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
4173 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
4176 @item subscribe-level
4177 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
4178 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
4179 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
4183 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
4184 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
4185 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
4186 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
4193 2: alt.religion.emacs
4197 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
4199 8: comp.binaries.fractals
4200 13: comp.sources.unix
4205 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
4206 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
4207 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
4208 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
4209 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
4210 . "religion.SCORE")}.
4212 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
4213 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
4214 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
4215 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
4216 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
4218 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
4219 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
4220 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
4221 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
4222 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
4223 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
4224 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
4225 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
4228 @node Non-ASCII Group Names
4229 @section Accessing groups of non-English names
4230 @cindex non-ascii group names
4232 There are some news servers that provide groups of which the names are
4233 expressed with their native languages in the world. For instance, in a
4234 certain news server there are some newsgroups of which the names are
4235 spelled in Chinese, where people are talking in Chinese. You can, of
4236 course, subscribe to such news groups using Gnus. Currently Gnus
4237 supports non-@acronym{ASCII} group names not only with the @code{nntp}
4238 back end but also with the @code{nnml} back end and the @code{nnrss}
4241 Every such group name is encoded by a certain charset in the server
4242 side (in an @acronym{NNTP} server its administrator determines the
4243 charset, but for groups in the other back ends it is determined by you).
4244 Gnus has to display the decoded ones for you in the group buffer and the
4245 article buffer, and needs to use the encoded ones when communicating
4246 with servers. However, Gnus doesn't know what charset is used for each
4247 non-@acronym{ASCII} group name. The following two variables are just
4248 the ones for telling Gnus what charset should be used for each group:
4251 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4252 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4253 An alist of select methods and charsets. The default value is
4254 @code{nil}. The names of groups in the server specified by that select
4255 method are all supposed to use the corresponding charset. For example:
4258 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4259 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4262 Charsets specified for groups with this variable are preferred to the
4263 ones specified for the same groups with the
4264 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} variable (see below).
4266 A select method can be very long, like:
4270 (nntp-address "news.gmane.org")
4271 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
4272 (nntp-open-connection-function
4273 nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
4274 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
4275 (nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
4276 ("-C" "-t" "-e" "none"))
4277 (nntp-via-address @dots{}))
4280 In that case, you can truncate it into @code{(nntp "gmane")} in this
4281 variable. That is, it is enough to contain only the back end name and
4284 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4285 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4286 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4287 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names.
4288 @code{((".*" . utf-8))} is the default value if UTF-8 is supported,
4289 otherwise the default is @code{nil}. For example:
4292 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4293 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)
4297 Note that this variable is ignored if the match is made with
4298 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist}.
4301 Those two variables are used also to determine the charset for encoding
4302 and decoding non-@acronym{ASCII} group names that are in the back ends
4303 other than @code{nntp}. It means that it is you who determine it. If
4304 you do nothing, the charset used for group names in those back ends will
4305 all be @code{utf-8} because of the last element of
4306 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist}.
4308 There is one more important variable for non-@acronym{ASCII} group
4309 names. @emph{XEmacs users must set this}. Emacs users necessarily need
4313 @item nnmail-pathname-coding-system
4314 The value of this variable should be a coding system or @code{nil}
4315 (which is the default). The @code{nnml} back end, the @code{nnrss} back
4316 end, the @acronym{NNTP} marks feature (@pxref{NNTP marks}), the agent,
4317 and the cache use non-@acronym{ASCII} group names in those files and
4318 directories. This variable overrides the value of
4319 @code{file-name-coding-system} which specifies the coding system used
4320 when encoding and decoding those file names and directory names.
4322 In XEmacs (with the @code{mule} feature), @code{file-name-coding-system}
4323 is the only means to specify the coding system used to encode and decode
4324 file names. Therefore, @emph{you, XEmacs users, have to set it} to the
4325 coding system that is suitable to encode and decode non-@acronym{ASCII}
4326 group names. On the other hand, Emacs uses the value of
4327 @code{default-file-name-coding-system} if @code{file-name-coding-system}
4328 is @code{nil}. Normally the value of
4329 @code{default-file-name-coding-system} is initialized according to the
4330 locale, so you will need to do nothing if the value is suitable to
4331 encode and decode non-@acronym{ASCII} group names.
4333 The value of this variable (or @code{default-file-name-coding-system})
4334 does not necessarily need to be the same value that is determined by
4335 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} and
4336 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist}.
4338 If you want to subscribe to the groups spelled in Chinese but
4339 @code{default-file-name-coding-system} is initialized by default to
4340 @code{iso-latin-1} for example, that is the most typical case where you
4341 have to set @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system} even if you are an
4342 Emacs user. The @code{utf-8} coding system is a good candidate for it.
4343 Otherwise, you may change the locale in your system so that
4344 @code{default-file-name-coding-system} may be initialized to an
4345 appropriate value, instead of specifying this variable.
4348 Note that when you copy or move articles from a non-@acronym{ASCII}
4349 group to another group, the charset used to encode and decode group
4350 names should be the same in both groups. Otherwise the Newsgroups
4351 header will be displayed incorrectly in the article buffer.
4358 * nnir:: Searching on IMAP, with swish, namazu, etc.
4359 * nnmairix:: Searching maildir, MH or mbox with Mairix.
4364 FIXME: This node is a stub.
4366 FIXME: Add a brief overview of Gnus search capabilities. A brief
4367 comparison of nnir, nnmairix, contrib/gnus-namazu would be nice
4370 FIXME: Explain difference to @ref{Searching for Articles}, add reference
4376 FIXME: As a first step, convert the commentary of @file{nnir} to texi.
4380 @subsection nnmairix
4384 This paragraph describes how to set up mairix and the back end
4385 @code{nnmairix} for indexing and searching your mail from within
4386 Gnus. Additionally, you can create permanent ``smart'' groups which are
4387 bound to mairix searches and are automatically updated.
4390 * About mairix:: About the mairix mail search engine
4391 * nnmairix requirements:: What you will need for using nnmairix
4392 * What nnmairix does:: What does nnmairix actually do?
4393 * Setting up mairix:: Set up your mairix installation
4394 * Configuring nnmairix:: Set up the nnmairix back end
4395 * nnmairix keyboard shortcuts:: List of available keyboard shortcuts
4396 * Propagating marks:: How to propagate marks from nnmairix groups
4397 * nnmairix tips and tricks:: Some tips, tricks and examples
4398 * nnmairix caveats:: Some more stuff you might want to know
4401 @c FIXME: The markup in this section might need improvement.
4402 @c E.g. adding @samp, @var, @file, @command, etc.
4403 @c Cf. (info "(texinfo)Indicating")
4406 @subsubsection About mairix
4408 Mairix is a tool for indexing and searching words in locally stored
4409 mail. It was written by Richard Curnow and is licensed under the
4410 GPL. Mairix comes with most popular GNU/Linux distributions, but it also
4411 runs under Windows (with cygwin), Mac OS X and Solaris. The homepage can
4413 @uref{http://www.rpcurnow.force9.co.uk/mairix/index.html}
4415 Though mairix might not be as flexible as other search tools like
4416 swish++ or namazu, which you can use via the @code{nnir} back end, it
4417 has the prime advantage of being incredibly fast. On current systems, it
4418 can easily search through headers and message bodies of thousands and
4419 thousands of mails in well under a second. Building the database
4420 necessary for searching might take a minute or two, but only has to be
4421 done once fully. Afterwards, the updates are done incrementally and
4422 therefore are really fast, too. Additionally, mairix is very easy to set
4425 For maximum speed though, mairix should be used with mails stored in
4426 @code{Maildir} or @code{MH} format (this includes the @code{nnml} back
4427 end), although it also works with mbox. Mairix presents the search
4428 results by populating a @emph{virtual} maildir/MH folder with symlinks
4429 which point to the ``real'' message files (if mbox is used, copies are
4430 made). Since mairix already presents search results in such a virtual
4431 mail folder, it is very well suited for using it as an external program
4432 for creating @emph{smart} mail folders, which represent certain mail
4433 searches. This is similar to a Kiboze group (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}),
4436 @node nnmairix requirements
4437 @subsubsection nnmairix requirements
4439 Mairix searches local mail---that means, mairix absolutely must have
4440 direct access to your mail folders. If your mail resides on another
4441 server (e.g. an @acronym{IMAP} server) and you happen to have shell
4442 access, @code{nnmairix} supports running mairix remotely, e.g. via ssh.
4444 Additionally, @code{nnmairix} only supports the following Gnus back
4445 ends: @code{nnml}, @code{nnmaildir}, and @code{nnimap}. You must use
4446 one of these back ends for using @code{nnmairix}. Other back ends, like
4447 @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnfolder} or @code{nnmh}, won't work.
4449 If you absolutely must use mbox and still want to use @code{nnmairix},
4450 you can set up a local @acronym{IMAP} server, which you then access via
4451 @code{nnimap}. This is a rather massive setup for accessing some mbox
4452 files, so just change to MH or Maildir already...
4454 @node What nnmairix does
4455 @subsubsection What nnmairix does
4457 The back end @code{nnmairix} enables you to call mairix from within Gnus,
4458 either to query mairix with a search term or to update the
4459 database. While visiting a message in the summary buffer, you can use
4460 several pre-defined shortcuts for calling mairix, e.g. to quickly
4461 search for all mails from the sender of the current message or to
4462 display the whole thread associated with the message, even if the
4463 mails are in different folders.
4465 Additionally, you can create permanent @code{nnmairix} groups which are bound
4466 to certain mairix searches. This way, you can easily create a group
4467 containing mails from a certain sender, with a certain subject line or
4468 even for one specific thread based on the Message-ID. If you check for
4469 new mail in these folders (e.g. by pressing @kbd{g} or @kbd{M-g}), they
4470 automatically update themselves by calling mairix.
4472 You might ask why you need @code{nnmairix} at all, since mairix already
4473 creates the group, populates it with links to the mails so that you can
4474 then access it with Gnus, right? Well, this @emph{might} work, but often
4475 does not---at least not without problems. Most probably you will get
4476 strange article counts, and sometimes you might see mails which Gnus
4477 claims have already been canceled and are inaccessible. This is due to
4478 the fact that Gnus isn't really amused when things are happening behind
4479 its back. Another problem can be the mail back end itself, e.g. if you
4480 use mairix with an @acronym{IMAP} server (I had Dovecot complaining
4481 about corrupt index files when mairix changed the contents of the search
4482 group). Using @code{nnmairix} should circumvent these problems.
4484 @code{nnmairix} is not really a mail back end---it's actually more like a
4485 wrapper, sitting between a ``real'' mail back end where mairix stores the
4486 searches and the Gnus front end. You can choose between three different
4487 mail back ends for the mairix folders: @code{nnml}, @code{nnmaildir} or
4488 @code{nnimap}. @code{nnmairix} will call the mairix binary so that the
4489 search results are stored in folders named
4490 @code{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>} on this mail back end, but it will
4491 present these folders in the Gnus front end only with @code{<NAME>}. You
4492 can use an existing mail back end where you already store your mail, but
4493 if you're uncomfortable with @code{nnmairix} creating new mail groups
4494 alongside your other mail, you can also create e.g. a new
4495 @code{nnmaildir} server exclusively for mairix. However, a special case
4496 exists if you want to use mairix remotely on an IMAP server with
4497 @code{nnimap}---here the mairix folders and your other mail must be on
4498 the same @code{nnimap} back end.
4500 @node Setting up mairix
4501 @subsubsection Setting up mairix
4503 First: create a backup of your mail folders (@pxref{nnmairix caveats}).
4505 Setting up mairix is easy: simply create a @file{.mairixrc} file with
4506 (at least) the following entries:
4509 # Your Maildir/MH base folder
4513 This is the base folder for your mails. All the following directories
4514 are relative to this base folder. If you want to use @code{nnmairix}
4515 with @code{nnimap}, this base directory has to point to the mail
4516 directory where the @acronym{IMAP} server stores the mail folders!
4519 maildir= ... your maildir folders which should be indexed ...
4520 mh= ... your nnml/mh folders which should be indexed ...
4521 mbox = ... your mbox files which should be indexed ...
4524 This specifies all your mail folders and mbox files (relative to the
4525 base directory!) you want to index with mairix. Note that the
4526 @code{nnml} back end saves mails in MH format, so you have to put those
4527 directories in the @code{mh} line. See the example at the end of this
4528 section and mairixrc's man-page for further details.
4534 @vindex nnmairix-group-prefix
4535 This should make sure that you don't accidentally index the mairix
4536 search results. You can change the prefix of these folders with the
4537 variable @code{nnmairix-group-prefix}.
4540 mformat= ... 'maildir' or 'mh' ...
4541 database= ... location of database file ...
4544 The @code{format} setting specifies the output format for the mairix
4545 search folder. Set this to @code{mh} if you want to access search results
4546 with @code{nnml}. Otherwise choose @code{maildir}.
4548 To summarize, here is my shortened @file{.mairixrc} file as an example:
4552 maildir=.personal:.work:.logcheck:.sent
4553 mh=../Mail/nnml/*...
4554 mbox=../mboxmail/mailarchive_year*
4557 database=~/.mairixdatabase
4560 In this case, the base directory is @file{~/Maildir}, where all my Maildir
4561 folders are stored. As you can see, the folders are separated by
4562 colons. If you wonder why every folder begins with a dot: this is
4563 because I use Dovecot as @acronym{IMAP} server, which again uses
4564 @code{Maildir++} folders. For testing nnmairix, I also have some
4565 @code{nnml} mail, which is saved in @file{~/Mail/nnml}. Since this has
4566 to be specified relative to the @code{base} directory, the @code{../Mail}
4567 notation is needed. Note that the line ends in @code{*...}, which means
4568 to recursively scan all files under this directory. Without the three
4569 dots, the wildcard @code{*} will not work recursively. I also have some
4570 old mbox files with archived mail lying around in @file{~/mboxmail}.
4571 The other lines should be obvious.
4573 See the man page for @code{mairixrc} for details and further options,
4574 especially regarding wildcard usage, which may be a little different
4575 than you are used to.
4577 Now simply call @code{mairix} to create the index for the first time.
4578 Note that this may take a few minutes, but every following index will do
4579 the updates incrementally and hence is very fast.
4581 @node Configuring nnmairix
4582 @subsubsection Configuring nnmairix
4584 In group mode, type @kbd{G b c}
4585 (@code{nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group}). This will ask you for all
4586 necessary information and create a @code{nnmairix} server as a foreign
4587 server. You will have to specify the following:
4592 The @strong{name} of the @code{nnmairix} server---choose whatever you
4596 The name of the @strong{back end server} where mairix should store its
4597 searches. This must be a full server name, like @code{nnml:mymail}.
4598 Just hit @kbd{TAB} to see the available servers. Currently, servers
4599 which are accessed through @code{nnmaildir}, @code{nnimap} and
4600 @code{nnml} are supported. As explained above, for locally stored
4601 mails, this can be an existing server where you store your mails.
4602 However, you can also create e.g. a new @code{nnmaildir} server
4603 exclusively for @code{nnmairix} in your secondary select methods
4604 (@pxref{Finding the News}). If you want to use mairix remotely on an
4605 @acronym{IMAP} server, you have to choose the corresponding
4606 @code{nnimap} server here.
4609 @vindex nnmairix-mairix-search-options
4610 The @strong{command} to call the mairix binary. This will usually just
4611 be @code{mairix}, but you can also choose something like @code{ssh
4612 SERVER mairix} if you want to call mairix remotely, e.g. on your
4613 @acronym{IMAP} server. If you want to add some default options to
4614 mairix, you could do this here, but better use the variable
4615 @code{nnmairix-mairix-search-options} instead.
4618 The name of the @strong{default search group}. This will be the group
4619 where all temporary mairix searches are stored, i.e. all searches which
4620 are not bound to permanent @code{nnmairix} groups. Choose whatever you
4624 If the mail back end is @code{nnimap} or @code{nnmaildir}, you will be
4625 asked if you work with @strong{Maildir++}, i.e. with hidden maildir
4626 folders (=beginning with a dot). For example, you have to answer
4627 @samp{yes} here if you work with the Dovecot @acronym{IMAP}
4628 server. Otherwise, you should answer @samp{no} here.
4632 @node nnmairix keyboard shortcuts
4633 @subsubsection nnmairix keyboard shortcuts
4640 @kindex G b c (Group)
4641 @findex nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group
4642 Creates @code{nnmairix} server and default search group for this server
4643 (@code{nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group}). You should have done
4644 this by now (@pxref{Configuring nnmairix}).
4647 @kindex G b s (Group)
4648 @findex nnmairix-search
4649 Prompts for query which is then sent to the mairix binary. Search
4650 results are put into the default search group which is automatically
4651 displayed (@code{nnmairix-search}).
4654 @kindex G b m (Group)
4655 @findex nnmairix-widget-search
4656 Allows you to create a mairix search or a permanent group more
4657 comfortably using graphical widgets, similar to a customization
4658 group. Just try it to see how it works (@code{nnmairix-widget-search}).
4661 @kindex G b i (Group)
4662 @findex nnmairix-search-interactive
4663 Another command for creating a mairix query more comfortably, but uses
4664 only the minibuffer (@code{nnmairix-search-interactive}).
4667 @kindex G b g (Group)
4668 @findex nnmairix-create-search-group
4669 Creates a permanent group which is associated with a search query
4670 (@code{nnmairix-create-search-group}). The @code{nnmairix} back end
4671 automatically calls mairix when you update this group with @kbd{g} or
4675 @kindex G b q (Group)
4676 @findex nnmairix-group-change-query-this-group
4677 Changes the search query for the @code{nnmairix} group under cursor
4678 (@code{nnmairix-group-change-query-this-group}).
4681 @kindex G b t (Group)
4682 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-threads-this-group
4683 Toggles the 'threads' parameter for the @code{nnmairix} group under cursor,
4684 i.e. if you want see the whole threads of the found messages
4685 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-threads-this-group}).
4688 @kindex G b u (Group)
4689 @findex nnmairix-update-database
4690 @vindex nnmairix-mairix-update-options
4691 Calls mairix binary for updating the database
4692 (@code{nnmairix-update-database}). The default parameters are @code{-F}
4693 and @code{-Q} for making this as fast as possible (see variable
4694 @code{nnmairix-mairix-update-options} for defining these default
4698 @kindex G b r (Group)
4699 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-readmarks-this-group
4700 Keep articles in this @code{nnmairix} group always read or unread, or leave the
4701 marks unchanged (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-readmarks-this-group}).
4704 @kindex G b d (Group)
4705 @findex nnmairix-group-delete-recreate-this-group
4706 Recreate @code{nnmairix} group on the ``real'' mail back end
4707 (@code{nnmairix-group-delete-recreate-this-group}). You can do this if
4708 you always get wrong article counts with a @code{nnmairix} group.
4711 @kindex G b a (Group)
4712 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-allowfast-this-group
4713 Toggles the @code{allow-fast} parameters for group under cursor
4714 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-allowfast-this-group}). The default
4715 behavior of @code{nnmairix} is to do a mairix search every time you
4716 update or enter the group. With the @code{allow-fast} parameter set,
4717 mairix will only be called when you explicitly update the group, but not
4718 upon entering. This makes entering the group faster, but it may also
4719 lead to dangling symlinks if something changed between updating and
4720 entering the group which is not yet in the mairix database.
4723 @kindex G b p (Group)
4724 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group
4725 Toggle marks propagation for this group
4726 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group}). (@pxref{Propagating
4730 @kindex G b o (Group)
4731 @findex nnmairix-propagate-marks
4732 Manually propagate marks (@code{nnmairix-propagate-marks}); needed only when
4733 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close} is set to @code{nil}.
4742 @kindex $ m (Summary)
4743 @findex nnmairix-widget-search-from-this-article
4744 Allows you to create a mairix query or group based on the current
4745 message using graphical widgets (same as @code{nnmairix-widget-search})
4746 (@code{nnmairix-widget-search-from-this-article}).
4749 @kindex $ g (Summary)
4750 @findex nnmairix-create-search-group-from-message
4751 Interactively creates a new search group with query based on the current
4752 message, but uses the minibuffer instead of graphical widgets
4753 (@code{nnmairix-create-search-group-from-message}).
4756 @kindex $ t (Summary)
4757 @findex nnmairix-search-thread-this-article
4758 Searches thread for the current article
4759 (@code{nnmairix-search-thread-this-article}). This is effectively a
4760 shortcut for calling @code{nnmairix-search} with @samp{m:msgid} of the
4761 current article and enabled threads.
4764 @kindex $ f (Summary)
4765 @findex nnmairix-search-from-this-article
4766 Searches all messages from sender of the current article
4767 (@code{nnmairix-search-from-this-article}). This is a shortcut for
4768 calling @code{nnmairix-search} with @samp{f:From}.
4771 @kindex $ o (Summary)
4772 @findex nnmairix-goto-original-article
4773 (Only in @code{nnmairix} groups!) Tries determine the group this article
4774 originally came from and displays the article in this group, so that
4775 e.g. replying to this article the correct posting styles/group
4776 parameters are applied (@code{nnmairix-goto-original-article}). This
4777 function will use the registry if available, but can also parse the
4778 article file name as a fallback method.
4781 @kindex $ u (Summary)
4782 @findex nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article
4783 Remove possibly existing tick mark from original article
4784 (@code{nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article}). (@pxref{nnmairix
4789 @node Propagating marks
4790 @subsubsection Propagating marks
4792 First of: you really need a patched mairix binary for using the marks
4793 propagation feature efficiently. Otherwise, you would have to update
4794 the mairix database all the time. You can get the patch at
4796 @uref{http://m61s02.vlinux.de/mairix-maildir-patch.tar}
4798 You need the mairix v0.21 source code for this patch; everything else
4799 is explained in the accompanied readme file. If you don't want to use
4800 marks propagation, you don't have to apply these patches, but they also
4801 fix some annoyances regarding changing maildir flags, so it might still
4804 With the patched mairix binary, you can use @code{nnmairix} as an
4805 alternative to mail splitting (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}). For
4806 example, instead of splitting all mails from @samp{david@@foobar.com}
4807 into a group, you can simply create a search group with the query
4808 @samp{f:david@@foobar.com}. This is actually what ``smart folders'' are
4809 all about: simply put everything in one mail folder and dynamically
4810 create searches instead of splitting. This is more flexible, since you
4811 can dynamically change your folders any time you want to. This also
4812 implies that you will usually read your mails in the @code{nnmairix}
4813 groups instead of your ``real'' mail groups.
4815 There is one problem, though: say you got a new mail from
4816 @samp{david@@foobar.com}; it will now show up in two groups, the
4817 ``real'' group (your INBOX, for example) and in the @code{nnmairix}
4818 search group (provided you have updated the mairix database). Now you
4819 enter the @code{nnmairix} group and read the mail. The mail will be
4820 marked as read, but only in the @code{nnmairix} group---in the ``real''
4821 mail group it will be still shown as unread.
4823 You could now catch up the mail group (@pxref{Group Data}), but this is
4824 tedious and error prone, since you may overlook mails you don't have
4825 created @code{nnmairix} groups for. Of course, you could first use
4826 @code{nnmairix-goto-original-article} (@pxref{nnmairix keyboard
4827 shortcuts}) and then read the mail in the original group, but that's
4828 even more cumbersome.
4830 Clearly, the easiest way would be if marks could somehow be
4831 automatically set for the original article. This is exactly what
4832 @emph{marks propagation} is about.
4834 Marks propagation is deactivated by default. You can activate it for a
4835 certain @code{nnmairix} group with
4836 @code{nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group} (bound to @kbd{G b
4837 p}). This function will warn you if you try to use it with your default
4838 search group; the reason is that the default search group is used for
4839 temporary searches, and it's easy to accidentally propagate marks from
4840 this group. However, you can ignore this warning if you really want to.
4842 With marks propagation enabled, all the marks you set in a @code{nnmairix}
4843 group should now be propagated to the original article. For example,
4844 you can now tick an article (by default with @kbd{!}) and this mark should
4845 magically be set for the original article, too.
4847 A few more remarks which you may or may not want to know:
4849 @vindex nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close
4850 Marks will not be set immediately, but only upon closing a group. This
4851 not only makes marks propagation faster, it also avoids problems with
4852 dangling symlinks when dealing with maildir files (since changing flags
4853 will change the file name). You can also control when to propagate marks
4854 via @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close} (see the doc-string for
4857 Obviously, @code{nnmairix} will have to look up the original group for every
4858 article you want to set marks for. If available, @code{nnmairix} will first use
4859 the registry for determining the original group. The registry is very
4860 fast, hence you should really, really enable the registry when using
4861 marks propagation. If you don't have to worry about RAM and disc space,
4862 set @code{gnus-registry-max-entries} to a large enough value; to be on
4863 the safe side, choose roughly the amount of mails you index with mairix.
4865 @vindex nnmairix-only-use-registry
4866 If you don't want to use the registry or the registry hasn't seen the
4867 original article yet, @code{nnmairix} will use an additional mairix
4868 search for determining the file name of the article. This, of course, is
4869 way slower than the registry---if you set hundreds or even thousands of
4870 marks this way, it might take some time. You can avoid this situation by
4871 setting @code{nnmairix-only-use-registry} to t.
4873 Maybe you also want to propagate marks the other way round, i.e. if you
4874 tick an article in a "real" mail group, you'd like to have the same
4875 article in a @code{nnmairix} group ticked, too. For several good
4876 reasons, this can only be done efficiently if you use maildir. To
4877 immediately contradict myself, let me mention that it WON'T work with
4878 @code{nnmaildir}, since @code{nnmaildir} stores the marks externally and
4879 not in the file name. Therefore, propagating marks to @code{nnmairix}
4880 groups will usually only work if you use an IMAP server which uses
4881 maildir as its file format.
4883 @vindex nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups
4884 If you work with this setup, just set
4885 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups} to @code{t} and see what
4886 happens. If you don't like what you see, just set it to @code{nil} again. One
4887 problem might be that you get a wrong number of unread articles; this
4888 usually happens when you delete or expire articles in the original
4889 groups. When this happens, you can recreate the @code{nnmairix} group on the
4890 back end using @kbd{G b d}.
4892 @node nnmairix tips and tricks
4893 @subsubsection nnmairix tips and tricks
4899 @findex nnmairix-update-groups
4900 I put all my important mail groups at group level 1. The mairix groups
4901 have group level 5, so they do not get checked at start up (@pxref{Group
4904 I use the following to check for mails:
4907 (defun my-check-mail-mairix-update (level)
4909 ;; if no prefix given, set level=1
4910 (gnus-group-get-new-news (or level 1))
4911 (nnmairix-update-groups "mairixsearch" t t)
4912 (gnus-group-list-groups))
4914 (define-key gnus-group-mode-map "g" 'my-check-mail-mairix-update)
4917 Instead of @samp{"mairixsearch"} use the name of your @code{nnmairix}
4918 server. See the doc string for @code{nnmairix-update-groups} for
4922 Example: search group for ticked articles
4924 For example, you can create a group for all ticked articles, where the
4925 articles always stay unread:
4927 Hit @kbd{G b g}, enter group name (e.g. @samp{important}), use
4928 @samp{F:f} as query and do not include threads.
4930 Now activate marks propagation for this group by using @kbd{G b p}. Then
4931 activate the always-unread feature by using @kbd{G b r} twice.
4933 So far so good---but how do you remove the tick marks in the @code{nnmairix}
4934 group? There are two options: You may simply use
4935 @code{nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article} (bound to @kbd{$ u}) to remove
4936 tick marks from the original article. The other possibility is to set
4937 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups} to @code{t}, but see the above
4938 comments about this option. If it works for you, the tick marks should
4939 also exist in the @code{nnmairix} group and you can remove them as usual,
4940 e.g. by marking an article as read.
4942 When you have removed a tick mark from the original article, this
4943 article should vanish from the @code{nnmairix} group after you have updated the
4944 mairix database and updated the group. Fortunately, there is a function
4945 for doing exactly that: @code{nnmairix-update-groups}. See the previous code
4946 snippet and the doc string for details.
4949 Dealing with auto-subscription of mail groups
4951 As described before, all @code{nnmairix} groups are in fact stored on
4952 the mail back end in the form @samp{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>}. You can
4953 see them when you enter the back end server in the server buffer. You
4954 should not subscribe these groups! Unfortunately, these groups will
4955 usually get @emph{auto-subscribed} when you use @code{nnmaildir} or
4956 @code{nnml}, i.e. you will suddenly see groups of the form
4957 @samp{zz_mairix*} pop up in your group buffer. If this happens to you,
4958 simply kill these groups with C-k. For avoiding this, turn off
4959 auto-subscription completely by setting the variable
4960 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups} to @code{nil} (@pxref{Filtering New
4961 Groups}), or if you like to keep this feature use the following kludge
4962 for turning it off for all groups beginning with @samp{zz_}:
4965 (setq gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
4966 "^\\(nnml\\|nnfolder\\|nnmbox\\|nnmh\\|nnbabyl\\|nnmaildir\\).*:\\([^z]\\|z$\\|\\z[^z]\\|zz$\\|zz[^_]\\|zz_$\\).*")
4971 @node nnmairix caveats
4972 @subsubsection nnmairix caveats
4976 If you use the Gnus agent (@pxref{Gnus Unplugged}): don't agentize
4977 @code{nnmairix} groups (though I have no idea what happens if you do).
4980 If you use the Gnus registry: don't use the registry with
4981 @code{nnmairix} groups (put them in
4982 @code{gnus-registry-unfollowed-groups}). Be @emph{extra careful} if
4983 you use @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent}; mails which are
4984 split into @code{nnmairix} groups are usually gone for good as soon as
4985 you check the group for new mail (yes, it has happened to me...).
4988 Therefore: @emph{Never ever} put ``real'' mails into @code{nnmairix}
4989 groups (you shouldn't be able to, anyway).
4992 mairix does only support us-ascii characters.
4995 @code{nnmairix} uses a rather brute force method to force Gnus to
4996 completely reread the group on the mail back end after mairix was
4997 called---it simply deletes and re-creates the group on the mail
4998 back end. So far, this has worked for me without any problems, and I
4999 don't see how @code{nnmairix} could delete other mail groups than its
5000 own, but anyway: you really should have a backup of your mail
5004 All necessary information is stored in the group parameters
5005 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). This has the advantage that no active file
5006 is needed, but also implies that when you kill a @code{nnmairix} group,
5007 it is gone for good.
5010 @findex nnmairix-purge-old-groups
5011 If you create and kill a lot of @code{nnmairix} groups, the
5012 ``zz_mairix-*'' groups will accumulate on the mail back end server. To
5013 delete old groups which are no longer needed, call
5014 @code{nnmairix-purge-old-groups}. Note that this assumes that you don't
5015 save any ``real'' mail in folders of the form
5016 @code{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>}. You can change the prefix of
5017 @code{nnmairix} groups by changing the variable
5018 @code{nnmairix-group-prefix}.
5021 The following only applies if you @emph{don't} use the mentioned patch
5022 for mairix (@pxref{Propagating marks}):
5024 A problem can occur when using @code{nnmairix} with maildir folders and
5025 comes with the fact that maildir stores mail flags like @samp{Seen} or
5026 @samp{Replied} by appending chars @samp{S} and @samp{R} to the message
5027 file name, respectively. This implies that currently you would have to
5028 update the mairix database not only when new mail arrives, but also when
5029 mail flags are changing. The same applies to new mails which are indexed
5030 while they are still in the @samp{new} folder but then get moved to
5031 @samp{cur} when Gnus has seen the mail. If you don't update the database
5032 after this has happened, a mairix query can lead to symlinks pointing to
5033 non-existing files. In Gnus, these messages will usually appear with
5034 ``(none)'' entries in the header and can't be accessed. If this happens
5035 to you, using @kbd{G b u} and updating the group will usually fix this.
5039 @node Misc Group Stuff
5040 @section Misc Group Stuff
5043 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
5044 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
5045 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
5046 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
5047 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
5054 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Group)
5055 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
5056 command or better use it as a prefix key. For example:
5059 (define-key gnus-group-mode-map (kbd "v j d")
5062 (gnus-group-jump-to-group "nndraft:drafts")))
5065 On keys reserved for users in Emacs and on keybindings in general
5066 @xref{Keymaps, Keymaps, , emacs, The Emacs Editor}.
5070 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
5071 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
5072 @xref{Server Buffer}.
5076 @findex gnus-group-post-news
5077 Start composing a message (a news by default)
5078 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
5079 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5080 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
5081 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
5082 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
5086 @findex gnus-group-mail
5087 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
5088 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
5089 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5090 @xref{Composing Messages}.
5094 @findex gnus-group-news
5095 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
5096 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
5097 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
5099 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5100 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
5101 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5102 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5103 for this to work though.
5107 @findex gnus-group-compact-group
5109 Compact the group under point (@code{gnus-group-compact-group}).
5110 Currently implemented only in nnml (@pxref{Mail Spool}). This removes
5111 gaps between article numbers, hence getting a correct total article
5116 Variables for the group buffer:
5120 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
5121 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
5122 is called after the group buffer has been
5125 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
5126 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
5127 is called after the group buffer is
5128 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
5131 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
5132 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
5133 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
5134 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
5136 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
5137 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
5138 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
5139 whether they are empty or not.
5143 @node Scanning New Messages
5144 @subsection Scanning New Messages
5145 @cindex new messages
5146 @cindex scanning new news
5152 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
5153 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
5154 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
5155 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
5156 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
5157 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
5162 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
5163 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
5164 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
5165 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
5166 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
5167 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
5168 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
5170 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
5171 @cindex activating groups
5173 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
5174 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
5179 @findex gnus-group-restart
5180 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
5181 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
5182 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
5186 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
5187 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
5189 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
5190 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
5194 @node Group Information
5195 @subsection Group Information
5196 @cindex group information
5197 @cindex information on groups
5204 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
5205 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
5208 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} for the current group
5209 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the @acronym{FAQ}
5210 from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on
5211 a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
5212 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
5213 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be
5214 used for fetching the file.
5216 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
5217 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
5221 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
5222 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
5224 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
5225 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
5228 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
5229 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
5230 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
5234 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
5235 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
5236 @cindex control message
5237 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
5238 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
5239 group if given a prefix argument.
5241 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-@code{nil},
5242 Gnus will open the control messages in a browser using
5243 @code{browse-url}. Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp}
5244 and displayed in an ephemeral group.
5246 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
5247 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed
5248 Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
5252 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
5254 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
5255 @cindex describing groups
5256 @cindex group description
5257 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
5258 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
5259 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
5263 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
5264 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
5265 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
5272 @findex gnus-version
5273 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
5277 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
5278 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
5281 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
5284 @findex gnus-info-find-node
5285 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
5289 @node Group Timestamp
5290 @subsection Group Timestamp
5292 @cindex group timestamps
5294 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
5295 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
5296 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
5299 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
5302 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
5304 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
5305 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
5308 (setq gnus-group-line-format
5309 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
5312 This will result in lines looking like:
5315 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
5316 0: custom 19961002T012713
5319 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
5320 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
5324 (setq gnus-group-line-format
5325 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
5328 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
5329 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
5333 (setq gnus-group-line-format
5334 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
5335 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
5336 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
5338 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
5344 @subsection File Commands
5345 @cindex file commands
5351 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
5352 @vindex gnus-init-file
5353 @cindex reading init file
5354 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
5355 @file{~/.gnus.el}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
5359 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
5360 @cindex saving .newsrc
5361 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
5362 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
5363 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
5366 @c @kindex Z (Group)
5367 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
5368 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
5373 @node Sieve Commands
5374 @subsection Sieve Commands
5375 @cindex group sieve commands
5377 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
5378 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
5379 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
5380 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
5381 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
5383 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
5384 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
5385 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
5386 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
5387 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
5388 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
5389 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
5390 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
5391 regenerate the Sieve script.
5393 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
5394 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
5395 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
5396 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
5397 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
5398 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
5399 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
5400 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
5401 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
5402 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
5405 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
5406 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
5411 @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve, Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
5417 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
5418 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
5419 @cindex generating sieve script
5420 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
5421 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
5425 @findex gnus-sieve-update
5426 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
5427 @cindex updating sieve script
5428 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
5429 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
5430 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
5435 @node Summary Buffer
5436 @chapter Summary Buffer
5437 @cindex summary buffer
5439 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
5440 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
5442 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
5443 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
5445 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
5447 You can customize the Summary Mode tool bar, see @kbd{M-x
5448 customize-apropos RET gnus-summary-tool-bar}. This feature is only
5452 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Summary)
5453 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
5454 command or better use it as a prefix key. For example:
5456 (define-key gnus-summary-mode-map (kbd "v -") "LrS") ;; lower subthread
5460 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
5461 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
5462 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
5463 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
5464 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
5465 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
5466 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
5467 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
5468 * Threading:: How threads are made.
5469 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
5470 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
5471 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
5472 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
5473 * Sticky Articles:: Article buffers that are not reused.
5474 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
5475 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
5476 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
5477 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
5478 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
5479 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
5480 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
5481 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
5482 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
5483 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
5484 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
5485 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
5486 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
5487 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
5488 or reselecting the current group.
5489 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
5490 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
5491 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
5492 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
5496 @node Summary Buffer Format
5497 @section Summary Buffer Format
5498 @cindex summary buffer format
5502 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
5503 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
5504 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
5510 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
5511 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
5512 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
5513 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
5516 @findex mail-extract-address-components
5517 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
5518 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
5519 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
5520 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
5521 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
5522 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
5523 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
5524 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
5525 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
5526 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
5529 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
5530 'mail-extract-address-components)
5533 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
5534 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
5535 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
5536 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
5539 @node Summary Buffer Lines
5540 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
5542 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
5543 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
5544 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
5545 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
5546 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
5548 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
5549 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
5550 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
5551 possible to change this. Just write a new function
5552 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
5553 @xref{Positioning Point}.
5555 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
5557 The following format specification characters and extended format
5558 specification(s) are understood:
5564 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
5565 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
5567 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
5568 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
5569 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
5571 Full @code{From} header.
5573 The name (from the @code{From} header).
5575 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
5578 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
5579 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
5580 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
5581 may be more thorough.
5583 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
5586 Number of lines in the article.
5588 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
5589 in some methods (like nnfolder).
5591 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
5592 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
5594 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
5596 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
5597 lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
5610 You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
5611 that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
5612 replacing the default @acronym{ASCII} characters with graphic
5613 line-drawing glyphs.
5615 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
5616 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
5617 Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
5618 instead. The default is @samp{> }.
5620 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
5621 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
5622 Used for the false root of a thread (@pxref{Loose Threads}). If
5623 @code{nil}, use subject instead. The default is @samp{> }.
5625 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
5626 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
5627 Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
5628 instead. The default is @samp{}.
5630 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
5631 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
5632 Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
5634 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
5635 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
5636 Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
5638 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
5639 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
5640 Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
5642 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
5643 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
5644 Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
5649 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
5650 pushes everything after it off the screen).
5652 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
5653 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
5655 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
5656 for adopted articles.
5658 One space for each thread level.
5660 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
5662 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
5665 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
5666 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
5667 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
5670 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
5672 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
5673 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
5674 default level. If the difference between
5675 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
5676 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
5684 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
5686 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
5692 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
5693 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
5695 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
5696 article has any children.
5702 Desired cursor position (instead of after first colon).
5704 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
5705 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
5707 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
5708 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
5709 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{x}}, where @var{x} is the letter
5710 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
5711 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
5712 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
5715 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
5716 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
5717 There can only be one such area.
5719 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
5720 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
5721 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
5722 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
5723 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
5724 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
5726 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
5727 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
5729 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
5732 @node To From Newsgroups
5733 @subsection To From Newsgroups
5737 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
5738 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
5739 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
5740 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
5741 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
5745 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
5746 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
5747 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
5751 (setq gnus-extra-headers
5752 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
5755 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
5756 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
5759 @findex gnus-extra-header
5760 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
5761 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
5762 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
5765 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
5769 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
5770 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
5771 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
5772 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
5773 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
5774 headers are used instead.
5776 To distinguish regular articles from those where the @code{From} field
5777 has been swapped, a string is prefixed to the @code{To} or
5778 @code{Newsgroups} header in the summary line. By default the string is
5779 @samp{-> } for @code{To} and @samp{=> } for @code{Newsgroups}, you can
5780 customize these strings with @code{gnus-summary-to-prefix} and
5781 @code{gnus-summary-newsgroup-prefix}.
5785 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
5786 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
5787 to include extra headers when generating overview (@acronym{NOV}) files.
5788 If you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after
5789 changing this variable, by entering the server buffer using @kbd{^},
5790 and then @kbd{g} on the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause
5793 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
5794 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
5795 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
5796 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
5798 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
5802 (setq gnus-extra-headers
5804 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
5805 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
5806 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
5807 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
5811 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
5814 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
5815 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
5818 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
5819 the @acronym{NOV} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
5820 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
5826 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
5827 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
5830 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
5831 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
5833 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
5834 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
5835 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
5836 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
5838 Here are the elements you can play with:
5844 Unprefixed group name.
5846 Current article number.
5848 Current article score.
5852 Number of unread articles in this group.
5854 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
5857 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
5858 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
5859 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
5860 and no unselected ones.
5862 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
5863 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
5865 Subject of the current article.
5867 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
5869 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
5871 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
5873 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
5875 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
5877 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
5881 @node Summary Highlighting
5882 @subsection Summary Highlighting
5886 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
5887 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
5888 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
5889 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
5890 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
5892 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
5893 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
5894 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
5895 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
5897 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
5898 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
5899 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
5900 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
5902 @item gnus-summary-highlight
5903 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
5904 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
5905 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
5906 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
5907 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
5910 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
5911 ((> score default) . bold))
5913 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
5914 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
5918 @node Summary Maneuvering
5919 @section Summary Maneuvering
5920 @cindex summary movement
5922 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
5923 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
5925 None of these commands select articles.
5930 @kindex M-n (Summary)
5931 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
5932 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
5933 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
5934 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
5938 @kindex M-p (Summary)
5939 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
5940 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
5941 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
5942 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
5945 @kindex G g (Summary)
5946 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
5947 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
5948 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
5951 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
5952 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
5953 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
5954 to the group buffer.
5956 Variables related to summary movement:
5960 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
5961 @item gnus-auto-select-next
5962 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
5963 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
5964 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
5965 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
5966 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
5967 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
5968 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
5969 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
5970 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
5971 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
5972 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
5973 @pxref{Group Levels}.
5975 @item gnus-auto-select-same
5976 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
5977 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
5978 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
5979 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
5980 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
5981 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
5983 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
5985 @item gnus-summary-check-current
5986 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
5987 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
5988 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
5989 Instead, they will choose the current article.
5991 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
5992 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
5993 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
5994 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
5995 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
5996 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
5997 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
5998 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
6001 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
6002 the given number of lines from the top.
6007 @node Choosing Articles
6008 @section Choosing Articles
6009 @cindex selecting articles
6012 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
6013 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
6017 @node Choosing Commands
6018 @subsection Choosing Commands
6020 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
6021 and they all select and display an article.
6023 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
6024 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
6028 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
6029 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
6030 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
6031 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
6033 If you have an article window open already and you press @kbd{SPACE}
6034 again, the article will be scrolled. This lets you conveniently
6035 @kbd{SPACE} through an entire newsgroup. @xref{Paging the Article}.
6040 @kindex G n (Summary)
6041 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
6042 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
6043 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
6048 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
6049 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
6050 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
6055 @kindex G N (Summary)
6056 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
6057 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
6062 @kindex G P (Summary)
6063 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
6064 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
6067 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
6068 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
6069 Go to the next article with the same subject
6070 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
6073 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
6074 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
6075 Go to the previous article with the same subject
6076 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
6080 @kindex G f (Summary)
6082 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
6083 Go to the first unread article
6084 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
6088 @kindex G b (Summary)
6090 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
6091 Go to the unread article with the highest score
6092 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
6093 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
6098 @kindex G l (Summary)
6099 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
6100 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
6103 @kindex G o (Summary)
6104 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
6106 @cindex article history
6107 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
6108 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
6109 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
6110 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
6111 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
6112 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
6117 @kindex G j (Summary)
6118 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
6119 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
6120 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
6125 @node Choosing Variables
6126 @subsection Choosing Variables
6128 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
6131 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
6132 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
6133 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
6134 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
6135 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
6136 the server and display it in the article buffer.
6138 @item gnus-select-article-hook
6139 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
6140 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. The default is
6141 @code{nil}. If you would like each article to be saved in the Agent as
6142 you read it, putting @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this
6145 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
6146 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
6147 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
6148 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
6149 @findex gnus-unread-mark
6150 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
6151 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
6152 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
6153 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-read-mark}. The only
6154 articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
6155 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
6156 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
6157 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
6158 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
6163 @node Paging the Article
6164 @section Scrolling the Article
6165 @cindex article scrolling
6170 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
6171 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
6172 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
6173 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
6174 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
6176 @vindex gnus-article-boring-faces
6177 @vindex gnus-article-skip-boring
6178 If @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} is non-@code{nil} and the rest of
6179 the article consists only of citations and signature, then it will be
6180 skipped; the next article will be shown instead. You can customize
6181 what is considered uninteresting with
6182 @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}. You can manually view the article's
6183 pages, no matter how boring, using @kbd{C-M-v}.
6186 @kindex DEL (Summary)
6187 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
6188 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
6191 @kindex RET (Summary)
6192 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
6193 Scroll the current article one line forward
6194 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
6197 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
6198 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
6199 Scroll the current article one line backward
6200 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
6204 @kindex A g (Summary)
6206 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
6207 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
6208 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
6209 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
6210 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
6211 the way it came from the server.
6213 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
6214 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
6215 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
6218 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
6223 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
6228 @kindex A < (Summary)
6229 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
6230 Scroll to the beginning of the article
6231 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
6236 @kindex A > (Summary)
6237 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
6238 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
6242 @kindex A s (Summary)
6244 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
6245 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
6246 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
6250 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
6251 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
6256 @node Reply Followup and Post
6257 @section Reply, Followup and Post
6260 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
6261 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
6262 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
6263 * Canceling and Superseding::
6267 @node Summary Mail Commands
6268 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
6270 @cindex composing mail
6272 Commands for composing a mail message:
6278 @kindex S r (Summary)
6280 @findex gnus-summary-reply
6281 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
6282 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
6283 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
6284 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
6289 @kindex S R (Summary)
6290 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
6291 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
6292 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
6293 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
6294 command uses the process/prefix convention.
6297 @kindex S w (Summary)
6298 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
6299 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
6300 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
6301 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
6302 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers. If @code{Mail-Followup-To} is
6303 present, that's used instead.
6306 @kindex S W (Summary)
6307 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
6308 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
6309 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
6310 the process/prefix convention.
6313 @kindex S v (Summary)
6314 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
6315 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
6316 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
6317 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
6318 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
6319 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
6322 @kindex S V (Summary)
6323 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
6324 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
6325 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
6326 command uses the process/prefix convention.
6329 @kindex S B r (Summary)
6330 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
6331 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
6332 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
6333 If you need this because a mailing list incorrectly sets a
6334 @code{Reply-To} header pointing to the list, you probably want to set
6335 the @code{broken-reply-to} group parameter instead, so things will work
6336 correctly. @xref{Group Parameters}.
6339 @kindex S B R (Summary)
6340 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
6341 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
6342 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
6343 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
6347 @kindex S o m (Summary)
6348 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
6349 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
6350 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
6351 Forward the current article to some other person
6352 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
6353 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
6354 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
6355 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
6356 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
6357 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
6358 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
6359 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
6360 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME}
6366 @kindex S m (Summary)
6367 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
6368 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
6369 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
6370 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
6371 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
6376 @kindex S i (Summary)
6377 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
6378 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
6379 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
6380 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
6382 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
6383 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
6384 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
6385 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
6386 for this to work though.
6389 @kindex S D b (Summary)
6390 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
6391 @cindex bouncing mail
6392 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
6393 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
6394 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
6395 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
6396 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
6397 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
6398 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
6399 very well fail, though.
6402 @kindex S D r (Summary)
6403 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
6404 Not to be confused with the previous command,
6405 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
6406 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
6407 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
6408 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
6409 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
6410 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
6411 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
6413 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
6414 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
6415 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
6416 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
6417 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
6419 This command understands the process/prefix convention
6420 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6423 @kindex S D e (Summary)
6424 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message-edit
6426 Like the previous command, but will allow you to edit the message as
6427 if it were a new message before resending.
6430 @kindex S O m (Summary)
6431 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
6432 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
6433 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
6434 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6437 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
6438 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
6439 @cindex crossposting
6440 @cindex excessive crossposting
6441 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
6442 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
6444 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
6445 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
6446 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
6447 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
6448 command understands the process/prefix convention
6449 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
6453 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
6454 Manual}, for more information.
6457 @node Summary Post Commands
6458 @subsection Summary Post Commands
6460 @cindex composing news
6462 Commands for posting a news article:
6468 @kindex S p (Summary)
6469 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
6470 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
6471 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
6472 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
6473 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
6478 @kindex S f (Summary)
6479 @findex gnus-summary-followup
6480 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
6481 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
6485 @kindex S F (Summary)
6487 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
6488 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
6489 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
6490 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
6491 process/prefix convention.
6494 @kindex S n (Summary)
6495 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
6496 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
6497 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
6500 @kindex S N (Summary)
6501 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
6502 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
6503 message through mail and include the original message
6504 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
6505 the process/prefix convention.
6508 @kindex S o p (Summary)
6509 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
6510 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
6511 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
6512 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
6513 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
6514 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
6515 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
6516 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
6517 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
6518 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
6519 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
6520 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section.
6523 @kindex S O p (Summary)
6524 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
6526 @cindex making digests
6527 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
6528 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-post-forward}). This command uses the
6529 process/prefix convention.
6532 @kindex S u (Summary)
6533 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
6534 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
6535 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
6536 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
6539 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
6540 Manual}, for more information.
6543 @node Summary Message Commands
6544 @subsection Summary Message Commands
6548 @kindex S y (Summary)
6549 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
6550 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
6551 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
6552 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
6553 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6558 @node Canceling and Superseding
6559 @subsection Canceling Articles
6560 @cindex canceling articles
6561 @cindex superseding articles
6563 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
6564 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
6566 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
6568 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
6570 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
6571 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
6572 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
6573 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
6574 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
6575 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6577 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
6578 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
6581 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
6582 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
6583 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
6585 Gnus ensures that only you can cancel your own messages using a
6586 @code{Cancel-Lock} header (@pxref{Canceling News, Canceling News, ,
6587 message, Message Manual}).
6589 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
6590 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
6591 your original article.
6593 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
6595 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
6596 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
6597 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
6600 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
6601 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
6602 have posted almost the same article twice.
6604 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
6605 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
6606 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
6607 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
6608 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
6609 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
6610 header by substituting one of those words for the word
6611 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
6612 you would do normally. The previous article will be
6613 canceled/superseded.
6615 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
6617 @node Delayed Articles
6618 @section Delayed Articles
6619 @cindex delayed sending
6620 @cindex send delayed
6622 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
6623 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
6624 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
6625 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
6628 (gnus-delay-initialize)
6631 @findex gnus-delay-article
6632 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
6633 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
6634 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
6635 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
6639 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
6640 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
6641 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
6642 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
6645 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
6646 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
6647 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
6650 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
6651 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
6652 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
6653 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
6654 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
6655 that means a time tomorrow.
6658 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
6659 couple of variables:
6662 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
6663 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
6664 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
6665 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
6667 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
6668 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
6669 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
6670 formats described above.
6672 @item gnus-delay-group
6673 @vindex gnus-delay-group
6674 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
6675 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
6676 value is @code{"delayed"}.
6678 @item gnus-delay-header
6679 @vindex gnus-delay-header
6680 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
6681 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
6682 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
6685 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
6686 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
6687 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
6688 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
6689 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
6691 @findex gnus-delay-send-queue
6692 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
6693 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
6694 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
6695 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
6696 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
6697 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
6700 @item gnus-delay-initialize
6701 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
6702 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
6703 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
6704 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
6705 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
6706 argument is ignored.
6708 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
6709 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
6710 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
6714 @node Marking Articles
6715 @section Marking Articles
6716 @cindex article marking
6717 @cindex article ticking
6720 There are several marks you can set on an article.
6722 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
6723 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
6724 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
6726 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
6729 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks.
6733 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
6734 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
6735 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
6736 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
6737 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
6738 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
6742 @node Unread Articles
6743 @subsection Unread Articles
6745 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
6750 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
6751 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
6753 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
6754 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
6755 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
6756 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
6757 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
6758 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
6759 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
6762 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
6763 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
6765 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
6766 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
6767 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
6768 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
6772 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
6773 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
6775 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
6780 @subsection Read Articles
6781 @cindex expirable mark
6783 All the following marks mark articles as read.
6788 @vindex gnus-del-mark
6789 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
6790 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
6793 @vindex gnus-read-mark
6794 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
6797 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
6798 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
6799 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
6802 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
6803 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
6806 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
6807 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
6810 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
6811 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
6814 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
6815 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
6818 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
6819 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
6822 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
6823 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
6826 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
6827 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
6831 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
6832 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
6833 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
6837 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
6838 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
6840 One more special mark, though:
6844 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
6845 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
6847 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
6848 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
6849 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
6850 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
6856 @subsection Other Marks
6857 @cindex process mark
6860 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
6866 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
6867 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
6868 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
6869 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
6870 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
6873 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
6874 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
6875 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
6876 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
6879 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
6880 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
6881 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
6884 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
6885 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
6886 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
6889 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
6890 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
6891 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
6892 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
6895 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
6896 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
6897 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
6898 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
6899 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
6900 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
6903 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
6904 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
6905 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
6906 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
6909 @vindex gnus-downloaded-mark
6910 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), articles may be
6911 downloaded for unplugged (offline) viewing. If you are using the
6912 @samp{%O} spec, these articles get the @samp{+} mark in that spec.
6913 (The variable @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} controls which character to
6917 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
6918 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), some articles might
6919 not have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you
6920 are unplugged (offline). If you are using the @samp{%O} spec, these
6921 articles get the @samp{-} mark in that spec. (The variable
6922 @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls which character to use.)
6925 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
6926 The Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}) downloads some articles
6927 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
6928 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
6929 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
6930 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
6934 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
6935 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
6936 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
6937 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
6938 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
6941 @vindex gnus-process-mark
6942 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
6943 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
6944 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
6945 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
6946 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
6950 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
6951 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
6952 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
6954 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
6955 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
6956 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
6960 @subsection Setting Marks
6961 @cindex setting marks
6963 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
6968 @kindex M c (Summary)
6969 @kindex M-u (Summary)
6970 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
6971 @cindex mark as unread
6972 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
6973 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
6979 @kindex M t (Summary)
6980 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
6981 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
6982 @xref{Article Caching}.
6987 @kindex M ? (Summary)
6988 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
6989 Mark the current article as dormant
6990 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
6994 @kindex M d (Summary)
6996 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
6997 Mark the current article as read
6998 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
7002 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
7003 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
7004 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
7009 @kindex M k (Summary)
7010 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
7011 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
7012 and then select the next unread article
7013 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
7017 @kindex M K (Summary)
7018 @kindex C-k (Summary)
7019 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
7020 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
7021 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
7024 @kindex M C (Summary)
7025 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
7026 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
7027 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
7030 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
7031 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
7032 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
7033 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
7036 @kindex M H (Summary)
7037 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
7038 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
7039 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
7042 @kindex M h (Summary)
7043 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
7044 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
7045 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
7048 @kindex C-w (Summary)
7049 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
7050 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
7051 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
7054 @kindex M V k (Summary)
7055 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
7056 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
7057 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
7061 @kindex M e (Summary)
7063 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
7064 Mark the current article as expirable
7065 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
7068 @kindex M b (Summary)
7069 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
7070 Set a bookmark in the current article
7071 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
7074 @kindex M B (Summary)
7075 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
7076 Remove the bookmark from the current article
7077 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
7080 @kindex M V c (Summary)
7081 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
7082 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
7083 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
7086 @kindex M V u (Summary)
7087 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
7088 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
7089 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
7092 @kindex M V m (Summary)
7093 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
7094 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
7095 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
7096 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
7099 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
7100 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
7101 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
7102 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
7103 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
7104 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
7105 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
7106 The default is @code{t}.
7109 @node Generic Marking Commands
7110 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
7112 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
7113 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
7114 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
7115 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
7116 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
7119 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
7120 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
7123 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
7124 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
7125 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
7126 to list in this manual.
7128 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
7129 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
7130 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
7131 article, you could say something like:
7135 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
7136 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
7137 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
7145 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
7146 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
7150 @node Setting Process Marks
7151 @subsection Setting Process Marks
7152 @cindex setting process marks
7154 Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
7155 used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
7156 process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
7157 articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
7158 articles into the cache. For more information,
7159 @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
7166 @kindex M P p (Summary)
7167 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
7168 Mark the current article with the process mark
7169 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
7170 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
7174 @kindex M P u (Summary)
7175 @kindex M-# (Summary)
7176 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
7177 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
7180 @kindex M P U (Summary)
7181 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
7182 Remove the process mark from all articles
7183 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
7186 @kindex M P i (Summary)
7187 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
7188 Invert the list of process marked articles
7189 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
7192 @kindex M P R (Summary)
7193 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
7194 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
7195 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
7198 @kindex M P G (Summary)
7199 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
7200 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
7201 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
7204 @kindex M P r (Summary)
7205 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
7206 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
7209 @kindex M P g (Summary)
7210 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
7211 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
7214 @kindex M P t (Summary)
7215 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
7216 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
7217 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
7220 @kindex M P T (Summary)
7221 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
7222 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
7223 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
7226 @kindex M P v (Summary)
7227 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
7228 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
7229 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
7232 @kindex M P s (Summary)
7233 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
7234 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
7237 @kindex M P S (Summary)
7238 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
7239 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
7240 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
7243 @kindex M P a (Summary)
7244 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
7245 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}).
7248 @kindex M P b (Summary)
7249 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
7250 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
7251 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
7254 @kindex M P k (Summary)
7255 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
7256 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
7257 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
7260 @kindex M P y (Summary)
7261 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
7262 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
7263 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
7266 @kindex M P w (Summary)
7267 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
7268 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
7269 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
7273 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @ref{Searching for Articles}, for how to
7274 set process marks based on article body contents.
7281 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
7282 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
7283 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
7286 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
7287 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
7288 additional articles.
7294 @kindex / / (Summary)
7295 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
7296 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
7297 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
7301 @kindex / a (Summary)
7302 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
7303 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
7304 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
7308 @kindex / R (Summary)
7309 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-recipient
7310 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some recipient
7311 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-recipient}). If given a prefix, exclude
7315 @kindex / A (Summary)
7316 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-address
7317 Limit the summary buffer to articles in which contents of From, To or Cc
7318 header match a given address (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-address}). If
7319 given a prefix, exclude matching articles.
7322 @kindex / S (Summary)
7323 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-singletons
7324 Limit the summary buffer to articles that aren't part of any displayed
7325 threads (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-singletons}). If given a prefix,
7326 limit to articles that are part of displayed threads.
7329 @kindex / x (Summary)
7330 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
7331 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
7332 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
7333 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
7338 @kindex / u (Summary)
7340 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
7341 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
7342 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
7343 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
7344 dormant articles will also be excluded.
7347 @kindex / m (Summary)
7348 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
7349 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
7350 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
7353 @kindex / t (Summary)
7354 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
7355 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
7356 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
7357 articles younger than that number of days.
7360 @kindex / n (Summary)
7361 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
7362 With prefix @samp{n}, limit the summary buffer to the next @samp{n}
7363 articles. If not given a prefix, use the process marked articles
7364 instead. (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}).
7367 @kindex / w (Summary)
7368 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
7369 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
7370 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
7374 @kindex / . (Summary)
7375 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
7376 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
7377 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
7380 @kindex / v (Summary)
7381 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
7382 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
7383 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
7386 @kindex / p (Summary)
7387 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
7388 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
7389 group parameter predicate
7390 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). @xref{Group
7391 Parameters}, for more on this predicate.
7394 @kindex / r (Summary)
7395 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-replied
7396 Limit the summary buffer to replied articles
7397 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-replied}). If given a prefix, exclude
7402 @kindex M S (Summary)
7403 @kindex / E (Summary)
7404 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
7405 Include all expunged articles in the limit
7406 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
7409 @kindex / D (Summary)
7410 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
7411 Include all dormant articles in the limit
7412 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
7415 @kindex / * (Summary)
7416 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
7417 Include all cached articles in the limit
7418 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
7421 @kindex / d (Summary)
7422 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
7423 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
7424 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
7427 @kindex / M (Summary)
7428 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
7429 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
7432 @kindex / T (Summary)
7433 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
7434 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
7437 @kindex / c (Summary)
7438 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
7439 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit@*
7440 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
7443 @kindex / C (Summary)
7444 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
7445 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
7446 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
7447 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
7450 @kindex / N (Summary)
7451 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
7452 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
7453 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
7456 @kindex / o (Summary)
7457 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
7458 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
7459 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
7462 @kindex / b (Summary)
7463 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-bodies
7464 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have bodies that match a
7465 certain regexp (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-bodies}). If given a
7466 prefix, reverse the limit. This command is quite slow since it
7467 requires selecting each article to find the matches.
7470 @kindex / h (Summary)
7471 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-headers
7472 Like the previous command, only limit to headers instead
7473 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-headers}).
7481 @cindex article threading
7483 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
7484 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
7485 hierarchical fashion.
7487 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
7488 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
7489 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
7490 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
7491 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
7492 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
7493 @ref{Customizing Threading}.
7495 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
7499 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
7502 A tree-like article structure.
7505 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
7508 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
7509 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
7510 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
7511 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
7512 called loose threads.
7514 @item thread gathering
7515 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
7517 @item sparse threads
7518 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
7519 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
7525 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
7526 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
7530 @node Customizing Threading
7531 @subsection Customizing Threading
7532 @cindex customizing threading
7535 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
7536 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
7537 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
7538 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
7543 @subsubsection Loose Threads
7546 @cindex loose threads
7549 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
7550 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
7551 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
7552 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
7553 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
7554 read or killed the root in a previous session.
7556 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
7557 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
7558 There are four possible values:
7562 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
7563 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
7564 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
7565 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
7566 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
7571 @cindex adopting articles
7576 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
7577 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
7578 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
7579 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
7582 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
7583 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
7584 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
7585 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
7586 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
7587 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
7588 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
7589 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
7590 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
7591 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
7594 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
7595 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
7596 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
7600 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
7601 display them after one another.
7604 Don't gather loose threads.
7607 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
7608 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
7609 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
7610 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
7611 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
7612 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
7613 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
7614 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
7615 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
7616 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
7617 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
7619 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
7620 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
7621 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
7624 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
7625 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
7626 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
7627 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
7628 simplification is used.
7630 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
7631 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
7632 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
7633 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
7635 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
7637 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
7643 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
7644 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
7645 "answer" "reference" "announce"
7646 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
7651 (mapconcat 'identity
7652 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
7654 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
7657 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
7660 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
7661 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
7662 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
7663 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
7664 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
7665 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
7667 Useful functions to put in this list include:
7670 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
7671 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
7672 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
7674 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
7675 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
7678 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
7679 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
7680 Remove excessive whitespace.
7682 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
7683 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
7684 Remove all whitespace.
7687 You may also write your own functions, of course.
7690 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
7691 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
7692 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
7693 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
7694 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
7695 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
7696 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
7697 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
7699 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
7700 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
7701 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
7702 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
7703 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
7704 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
7705 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
7706 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
7707 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
7711 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
7712 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
7713 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
7714 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
7716 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
7717 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
7718 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
7721 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
7725 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
7726 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
7732 @node Filling In Threads
7733 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
7736 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
7737 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
7738 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
7739 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you would
7740 like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still connect as
7741 many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable to
7742 @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than that
7743 number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case, fetching
7744 old headers only works if the back end you are using carries overview
7745 files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
7746 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
7747 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can
7750 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
7751 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
7752 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
7754 The server has to support @acronym{NOV} for any of this to work.
7756 @cindex Gmane, gnus-fetch-old-headers
7757 This feature can seriously impact performance it ignores all locally
7758 cached header entries. Setting it to @code{t} for groups for a server
7759 that doesn't expire articles (such as news.gmane.org), leads to very
7760 slow summary generation.
7762 @item gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
7763 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
7764 Same as @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}, but only used for ephemeral
7767 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
7768 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
7769 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
7770 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
7771 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
7772 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
7773 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
7774 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
7775 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
7776 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
7777 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
7778 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
7779 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
7780 @code{nil} by default.
7782 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
7783 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
7784 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
7785 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
7786 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
7787 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
7788 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
7790 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
7791 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
7792 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
7797 @node More Threading
7798 @subsubsection More Threading
7801 @item gnus-show-threads
7802 @vindex gnus-show-threads
7803 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
7804 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
7805 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
7806 slower and more awkward.
7808 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
7809 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
7810 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
7813 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
7814 Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
7815 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}.
7820 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
7821 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
7822 gnus-article-unseen-p))
7825 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
7826 unread, but you get my drift.)
7829 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
7830 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
7831 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
7832 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
7833 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
7834 threads are expunged.
7836 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
7837 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
7838 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
7841 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
7842 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
7843 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
7844 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
7845 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
7846 result in a new thread.
7848 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
7849 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
7850 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
7853 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
7854 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
7855 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
7856 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
7857 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
7858 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
7859 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
7860 Setting this variable to an alternate value
7861 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
7862 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
7863 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
7868 @node Low-Level Threading
7869 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
7873 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
7874 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
7875 Hook run before parsing any headers.
7877 @item gnus-alter-header-function
7878 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
7879 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
7880 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
7881 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
7882 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
7883 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
7884 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
7885 meaningful. Here's one example:
7888 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
7890 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
7891 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
7893 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
7895 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
7902 @node Thread Commands
7903 @subsection Thread Commands
7904 @cindex thread commands
7910 @kindex T k (Summary)
7911 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
7912 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
7913 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
7914 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
7915 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
7920 @kindex T l (Summary)
7921 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
7922 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
7923 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
7924 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
7927 @kindex T i (Summary)
7928 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
7929 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
7930 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
7933 @kindex T # (Summary)
7934 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
7935 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
7936 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
7939 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
7940 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
7941 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
7942 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
7945 @kindex T T (Summary)
7946 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
7947 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
7950 @kindex T s (Summary)
7951 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
7952 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any@*
7953 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
7956 @kindex T h (Summary)
7957 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
7958 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
7961 @kindex T S (Summary)
7962 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
7963 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
7966 @kindex T H (Summary)
7967 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
7968 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
7971 @kindex T t (Summary)
7972 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
7973 Re-thread the current article's thread
7974 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
7975 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
7978 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
7979 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
7980 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
7981 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
7984 @kindex T M-^ (Summary)
7985 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-children
7986 Make the current article the parent of the marked articles
7987 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-children}).
7991 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
7992 understand the numeric prefix.
7997 @kindex T n (Summary)
7999 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
8001 @kindex M-down (Summary)
8002 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
8003 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
8006 @kindex T p (Summary)
8008 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
8010 @kindex M-up (Summary)
8011 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
8012 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
8015 @kindex T d (Summary)
8016 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
8017 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
8020 @kindex T u (Summary)
8021 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
8022 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
8025 @kindex T o (Summary)
8026 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
8027 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
8030 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
8031 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
8032 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
8033 a command like @kbd{T k} (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
8034 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
8035 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
8036 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
8037 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
8038 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
8039 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
8040 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
8041 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
8045 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
8046 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
8048 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
8049 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
8050 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
8051 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
8052 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
8053 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-recipient
8054 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
8055 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
8056 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
8057 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number
8058 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date
8059 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
8060 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
8061 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
8062 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
8064 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
8065 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
8066 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-recipient},
8067 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
8068 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date},
8069 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
8070 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
8071 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
8072 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
8073 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
8075 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
8076 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
8077 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
8079 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
8080 last function in the list. You should probably always include
8081 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
8082 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
8083 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
8084 ascending article order.
8086 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
8087 by number, you could do something like:
8090 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
8091 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
8092 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
8093 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
8096 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
8097 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
8098 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
8099 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
8100 which the articles arrived.
8102 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
8106 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
8107 '((not gnus-thread-sort-by-number)
8108 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
8111 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
8112 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
8113 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
8114 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
8117 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
8118 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
8119 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-most-recent-date
8120 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
8121 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
8122 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
8123 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
8124 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
8125 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-most-recent-number
8126 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
8127 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
8128 variable. It is very similar to the
8129 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
8130 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
8131 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
8132 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
8133 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
8134 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
8135 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
8137 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
8141 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
8142 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
8143 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
8146 You can define group specific sorting via @code{gnus-parameters},
8147 @xref{Group Parameters}.
8150 @node Asynchronous Fetching
8151 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
8152 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
8153 @cindex article pre-fetch
8156 If you read your news from an @acronym{NNTP} server that's far away, the
8157 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
8158 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
8159 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
8160 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
8162 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
8163 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
8165 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
8166 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
8167 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
8168 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
8169 connection is blocked.
8171 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
8172 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
8173 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
8174 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
8176 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
8177 the link between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server will become more
8178 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
8179 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
8182 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing@dots{} unless
8185 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
8186 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
8187 happen automatically.
8189 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
8190 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
8191 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
8192 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
8193 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
8194 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
8195 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
8197 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
8198 @findex gnus-async-unread-p
8199 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
8200 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p}
8201 variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This
8202 function should return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is
8203 to be pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-unread-p}, which
8204 returns @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an
8205 article data structure as the only parameter.
8207 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
8208 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
8211 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
8212 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
8213 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
8214 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
8217 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
8220 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
8221 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
8222 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
8224 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
8225 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
8226 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
8227 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
8231 Remove articles when they are read.
8234 Remove articles when exiting the group.
8237 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
8239 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
8240 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
8241 @c from the next group.
8244 @node Article Caching
8245 @section Article Caching
8246 @cindex article caching
8249 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @acronym{NNTP} connection, you may
8250 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
8251 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
8252 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
8253 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
8255 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
8257 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
8258 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
8259 @vindex gnus-use-cache
8260 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
8261 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
8262 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
8263 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
8264 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
8266 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
8267 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
8268 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
8269 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
8270 as dormant, and don't worry.
8272 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
8274 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
8275 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
8276 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
8277 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
8278 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
8279 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
8280 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
8281 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
8282 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
8283 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
8285 @findex gnus-jog-cache
8286 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
8287 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
8288 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
8289 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
8290 command if 1) your connection to the @acronym{NNTP} server is really, really,
8291 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
8292 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
8293 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
8294 not then be downloaded by this command.
8296 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
8297 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
8298 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
8299 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
8300 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
8301 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
8303 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
8304 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
8305 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
8306 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
8307 variables, the group is not cached.
8309 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
8310 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
8311 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
8312 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
8313 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
8314 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
8315 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
8316 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @acronym{NOV}
8317 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
8320 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
8321 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
8322 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
8323 where, isn't that cool?
8325 @node Persistent Articles
8326 @section Persistent Articles
8327 @cindex persistent articles
8329 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
8330 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
8331 useful in my opinion.
8333 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
8334 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
8335 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
8336 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
8337 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
8338 the expiry going on at the news server.
8340 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
8341 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
8342 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
8348 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
8349 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
8352 @kindex M-* (Summary)
8353 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
8354 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
8355 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
8359 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
8361 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
8362 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
8363 interested in persistent articles:
8366 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
8369 @node Sticky Articles
8370 @section Sticky Articles
8371 @cindex sticky articles
8373 When you select an article the current article buffer will be reused
8374 according to the value of the variable
8375 @code{gnus-single-article-buffer}. If its value is non-@code{nil} (the
8376 default) all articles reuse the same article buffer. Else each group
8377 has its own article buffer.
8379 This implies that it's not possible to have more than one article buffer
8380 in a group at a time. But sometimes you might want to display all the
8381 latest emails from your mother, your father, your aunt, your uncle and
8382 your 17 cousins to coordinate the next christmas party.
8384 That's where sticky articles come in handy. A sticky article buffer
8385 basically is a normal article buffer, but it won't be reused when you
8386 select another article. You can make an article sticky with:
8390 @kindex A S (Summary)
8391 @findex gnus-sticky-article
8392 Make the current article sticky. If a prefix arg is given, ask for a
8393 name for this sticky article buffer.
8396 To close a sticky article buffer you can use these commands:
8402 Puts this sticky article buffer at the end of the list of all buffers.
8406 @findex gnus-kill-sticky-article-buffer
8407 Kills this sticky article buffer.
8410 To kill all sticky article buffers you can use:
8412 @defun gnus-kill-sticky-article-buffers ARG
8413 Kill all sticky article buffers.
8414 If a prefix ARG is given, ask for confirmation.
8417 @node Article Backlog
8418 @section Article Backlog
8420 @cindex article backlog
8422 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
8423 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
8424 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
8425 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
8426 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
8427 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
8428 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
8429 increase memory usage some.
8431 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
8432 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
8433 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
8434 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
8435 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
8436 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
8437 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
8439 The default value is 20.
8442 @node Saving Articles
8443 @section Saving Articles
8444 @cindex saving articles
8446 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
8447 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
8448 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
8449 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
8450 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
8452 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
8453 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
8454 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
8456 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
8457 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
8458 unwanted headers before saving the article.
8460 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
8461 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
8462 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
8463 deleted before saving.
8469 @kindex O o (Summary)
8471 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
8472 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
8473 Save the current article using the default article saver
8474 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
8477 @kindex O m (Summary)
8478 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
8479 Save the current article in a Unix mail box (mbox) file
8480 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
8483 @kindex O r (Summary)
8484 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
8485 Save the current article in Rmail format
8486 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
8489 @kindex O f (Summary)
8490 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
8491 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
8492 Save the current article in plain file format
8493 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
8496 @kindex O F (Summary)
8497 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
8498 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
8499 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
8502 @kindex O b (Summary)
8503 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
8504 Save the current article body in plain file format
8505 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
8508 @kindex O h (Summary)
8509 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
8510 Save the current article in mh folder format
8511 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
8514 @kindex O v (Summary)
8515 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
8516 Save the current article in a VM folder
8517 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
8521 @kindex O p (Summary)
8523 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
8524 @vindex gnus-summary-pipe-output-default-command
8525 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
8526 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
8527 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
8528 complete headers in the piped output. The symbolic prefix @code{r} is
8529 special; it lets this command pipe a raw article including all headers.
8530 The @code{gnus-summary-pipe-output-default-command} variable can be set
8531 to a string containing the default command and options (default
8535 @kindex O P (Summary)
8536 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
8537 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
8538 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
8539 external program @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/,
8540 Muttprint}. The program name and options to use is controlled by the
8541 variable @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}.
8542 (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
8546 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
8547 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
8548 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
8549 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
8550 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
8551 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
8552 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
8553 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
8554 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
8555 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
8556 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
8557 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
8561 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
8562 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
8563 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the eight ready-made
8564 functions below, or you can create your own.
8568 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
8569 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
8570 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
8571 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
8572 This is the default format, @dfn{Babyl}. Uses the function in the
8573 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8574 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
8576 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
8577 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
8578 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
8579 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
8580 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8581 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
8583 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
8584 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
8585 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
8586 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
8587 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
8588 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8589 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
8591 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
8592 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
8593 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
8594 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
8595 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8596 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
8598 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
8599 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
8600 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
8601 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8602 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
8604 @item gnus-summary-write-body-to-file
8605 @findex gnus-summary-write-body-to-file
8606 Write the article body straight to an ordinary file. The file is
8607 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
8608 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8609 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
8611 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
8612 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
8613 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
8614 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
8615 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
8618 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
8619 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
8620 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
8621 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
8622 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
8624 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
8625 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
8626 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
8627 reader to use this setting.
8629 @item gnus-summary-save-in-pipe
8630 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-pipe
8631 Pipe the article to a shell command. This function takes optional two
8632 arguments COMMAND and RAW. Valid values for COMMAND include:
8636 The executable command name and possibly arguments.
8638 You will be prompted for the command in the minibuffer.
8639 @item the symbol @code{default}@*
8640 It will be replaced with the command which the variable
8641 @code{gnus-summary-pipe-output-default-command} holds or the command
8642 last used for saving.
8645 Non-@code{nil} value for RAW overrides @code{:decode} and
8646 @code{:headers} properties (see below) and the raw article including all
8647 headers will be piped.
8650 The symbol of each function may have the following properties:
8654 The value non-@code{nil} means save decoded articles. This is
8655 meaningful only with @code{gnus-summary-save-in-file},
8656 @code{gnus-summary-save-body-in-file},
8657 @code{gnus-summary-write-to-file},
8658 @code{gnus-summary-write-body-to-file}, and
8659 @code{gnus-summary-save-in-pipe}.
8662 The value specifies an alternative function which appends, not
8663 overwrites, articles to a file. This implies that when saving many
8664 articles at a time, @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} is bound to
8665 @code{t} and all articles are saved in a single file. This is
8666 meaningful only with @code{gnus-summary-write-to-file} and
8667 @code{gnus-summary-write-body-to-file}.
8670 The value specifies the symbol of a variable of which the value
8671 specifies headers to be saved. If it is omitted,
8672 @code{gnus-save-all-headers} and @code{gnus-saved-headers} control what
8673 headers should be saved.
8676 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
8677 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
8678 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
8679 @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
8682 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
8683 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
8684 available functions that generate names:
8688 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
8689 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
8690 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
8692 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
8693 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
8694 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
8696 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
8697 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
8698 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
8700 @item gnus-plain-save-name
8701 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
8702 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
8704 @item gnus-sender-save-name
8705 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
8706 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
8709 @vindex gnus-split-methods
8710 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
8711 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
8712 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
8713 related to VM in @file{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
8717 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
8718 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
8719 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
8720 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
8723 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
8724 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
8725 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
8726 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
8727 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
8728 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
8729 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
8730 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
8731 called returns a string or a list of strings.
8733 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
8734 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
8735 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
8736 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
8738 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
8739 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
8740 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
8743 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
8744 lots of mail groups called things like
8745 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
8746 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
8747 following will do just that:
8750 (defun my-save-name (group)
8751 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
8752 (substring group (match-end 0))))
8754 (setq gnus-split-methods
8755 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
8760 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
8761 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
8762 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
8763 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
8764 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
8765 all the files in the top level directory
8766 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
8767 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
8768 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
8769 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
8771 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
8772 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
8773 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
8774 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
8775 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
8778 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
8782 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; @r{to get a hierarchy}
8783 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
8784 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; @r{no encoding}
8787 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
8788 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
8789 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
8790 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
8793 @node Decoding Articles
8794 @section Decoding Articles
8795 @cindex decoding articles
8797 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
8798 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
8801 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
8802 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
8803 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
8804 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
8805 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
8806 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
8810 @cindex article series
8811 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
8812 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
8813 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
8814 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
8815 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
8817 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
8818 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
8819 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
8821 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
8822 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
8823 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
8825 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
8826 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
8827 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
8830 @node Uuencoded Articles
8831 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
8833 @cindex uuencoded articles
8838 @kindex X u (Summary)
8839 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
8840 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
8841 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
8844 @kindex X U (Summary)
8845 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
8846 Uudecodes and saves the current series
8847 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
8850 @kindex X v u (Summary)
8851 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
8852 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
8855 @kindex X v U (Summary)
8856 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
8857 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
8858 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
8862 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
8863 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
8864 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
8865 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
8866 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
8868 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
8869 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
8870 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
8871 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
8874 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
8875 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
8876 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
8877 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
8878 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
8879 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
8883 @node Shell Archives
8884 @subsection Shell Archives
8886 @cindex shell archives
8887 @cindex shared articles
8889 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
8890 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
8891 some commands to deal with these:
8896 @kindex X s (Summary)
8897 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
8898 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
8901 @kindex X S (Summary)
8902 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
8903 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
8906 @kindex X v s (Summary)
8907 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
8908 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
8911 @kindex X v S (Summary)
8912 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
8913 Unshars, views and saves the current series
8914 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
8918 @node PostScript Files
8919 @subsection PostScript Files
8925 @kindex X p (Summary)
8926 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
8927 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
8930 @kindex X P (Summary)
8931 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
8932 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
8933 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
8936 @kindex X v p (Summary)
8937 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
8938 View the current PostScript series
8939 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
8942 @kindex X v P (Summary)
8943 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
8944 View and save the current PostScript series
8945 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
8950 @subsection Other Files
8954 @kindex X o (Summary)
8955 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
8956 Save the current series
8957 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
8960 @kindex X b (Summary)
8961 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
8962 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
8963 doesn't really work yet.
8966 @kindex X Y (Summary)
8967 @findex gnus-uu-decode-yenc
8968 yEnc-decode the current series and save it (@code{gnus-uu-decode-yenc}).
8972 @node Decoding Variables
8973 @subsection Decoding Variables
8975 Adjective, not verb.
8978 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
8979 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
8980 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
8984 @node Rule Variables
8985 @subsubsection Rule Variables
8986 @cindex rule variables
8988 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
8989 variables are of the form
8992 (list '(regexp1 command2)
8999 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
9000 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
9002 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
9003 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @file{.au} sound file, you could
9006 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
9007 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
9010 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
9011 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
9012 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
9013 user and default view rules.
9015 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
9016 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
9017 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
9022 @node Other Decode Variables
9023 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
9026 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
9028 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
9029 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
9030 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
9031 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
9032 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
9036 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
9037 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
9040 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
9041 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
9042 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
9045 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
9046 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
9047 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
9048 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
9049 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
9052 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
9053 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
9054 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
9056 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
9057 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
9058 Files with a @acronym{MIME} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
9059 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
9060 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @acronym{MIME} package (yet), so this is slightly
9063 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
9064 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
9065 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
9067 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
9068 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
9069 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
9070 looking for files to display.
9072 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
9073 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
9074 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
9077 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
9078 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
9079 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
9082 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
9083 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
9084 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
9087 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
9088 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
9089 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
9092 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
9093 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
9094 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
9095 decoded articles as unread.
9097 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
9098 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
9099 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
9100 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
9102 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
9103 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
9104 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
9106 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
9107 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
9109 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
9110 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @acronym{MIME}
9111 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
9112 @code{metamail} for viewing.
9114 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
9115 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
9116 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
9117 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
9118 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
9119 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
9120 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
9121 simply dropped them.
9126 @node Uuencoding and Posting
9127 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
9131 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
9132 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
9133 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
9134 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
9135 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
9136 for you when you post the article.
9138 @item gnus-uu-post-length
9139 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
9140 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
9141 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
9143 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
9144 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
9145 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
9146 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
9147 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
9148 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
9149 think that counts@dots{}) Default is @code{nil}.
9151 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
9152 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
9153 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
9154 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
9155 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
9156 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
9157 Default is @code{t}.
9163 @subsection Viewing Files
9164 @cindex viewing files
9165 @cindex pseudo-articles
9167 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
9168 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
9169 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
9170 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
9171 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
9172 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
9173 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
9175 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
9176 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
9177 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
9178 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
9180 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
9181 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
9182 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
9184 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
9185 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
9186 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
9187 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
9188 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
9190 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
9191 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
9192 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
9193 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
9194 a list of parameters to that command.
9196 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
9197 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
9198 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
9200 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
9201 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
9202 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
9205 @node Article Treatment
9206 @section Article Treatment
9208 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
9209 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
9210 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
9211 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
9212 these articles easier.
9215 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
9216 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
9217 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
9218 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
9219 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
9220 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
9221 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
9222 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
9223 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
9224 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
9225 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
9229 @node Article Highlighting
9230 @subsection Article Highlighting
9231 @cindex highlighting
9233 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
9234 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
9239 @kindex W H a (Summary)
9240 @findex gnus-article-highlight
9241 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
9242 Do much highlighting of the current article
9243 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
9244 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
9247 @kindex W H h (Summary)
9248 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
9249 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
9250 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
9251 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
9252 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
9253 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
9254 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
9255 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
9256 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
9257 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
9258 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
9261 @kindex W H c (Summary)
9262 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
9263 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
9265 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
9268 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
9270 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
9271 If the article size in bytes is bigger than this variable (which is
9272 25000 by default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
9274 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
9275 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
9276 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
9278 @item gnus-cite-face-list
9279 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
9280 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
9281 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
9282 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
9283 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
9285 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
9286 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
9287 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
9289 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
9290 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
9291 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
9293 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
9294 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
9295 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
9296 that it's a citation.
9298 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
9299 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
9300 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
9302 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
9303 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
9304 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
9306 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
9307 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
9308 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
9309 cited text belonging to the attribution.
9311 @item gnus-cite-ignore-quoted-from
9312 @vindex gnus-cite-ignore-quoted-from
9313 If non-@code{nil}, no citation highlighting will be performed on lines
9314 beginning with @samp{>From }. Those lines may have been quoted by MTAs
9315 in order not to mix up with the envelope From line. The default value
9322 @kindex W H s (Summary)
9323 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
9324 @vindex gnus-signature-face
9325 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
9326 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
9327 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
9328 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
9329 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
9334 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
9337 @node Article Fontisizing
9338 @subsection Article Fontisizing
9340 @cindex article emphasis
9342 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
9343 @kindex W e (Summary)
9344 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
9345 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
9346 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
9347 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
9349 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
9350 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
9351 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
9352 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
9353 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
9354 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
9355 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
9356 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
9360 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
9361 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
9362 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
9371 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
9372 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
9373 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
9374 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
9375 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
9376 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
9377 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
9378 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
9379 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
9380 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
9381 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
9382 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
9383 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
9385 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
9386 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
9387 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
9391 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
9394 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
9396 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
9397 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
9398 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
9399 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
9401 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
9404 @node Article Hiding
9405 @subsection Article Hiding
9406 @cindex article hiding
9408 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
9409 too much cruft in most articles.
9414 @kindex W W a (Summary)
9415 @findex gnus-article-hide
9416 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
9417 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
9418 headers, @acronym{PGP}, cited text and the signature.
9421 @kindex W W h (Summary)
9422 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
9423 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
9427 @kindex W W b (Summary)
9428 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
9429 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
9430 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
9433 @kindex W W s (Summary)
9434 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
9435 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
9439 @kindex W W l (Summary)
9440 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
9441 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
9442 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
9443 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
9444 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
9445 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
9446 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
9450 @item gnus-list-identifiers
9451 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
9452 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
9453 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
9458 @kindex W W P (Summary)
9459 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
9460 Hide @acronym{PEM} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
9461 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
9464 @kindex W W B (Summary)
9465 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
9466 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
9467 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
9470 @cindex stripping advertisements
9471 @cindex advertisements
9472 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
9473 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
9474 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
9475 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
9476 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
9477 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
9478 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
9479 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
9480 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
9481 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
9484 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
9485 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
9486 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
9490 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
9491 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
9492 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
9493 @code{(@var{address} . @var{banner})}, where @var{address} is a regexp
9494 matching a mail address in the From header, @var{banner} is one of a
9495 symbol @code{signature}, an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist},
9496 a regexp and @code{nil}. If @var{address} matches author's mail
9497 address, it will remove things like advertisements. For example, if a
9498 sender has the mail address @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a
9499 banner something like @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he
9500 sends, you can use the following element to remove them:
9503 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" .
9504 "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
9510 @kindex W W c (Summary)
9511 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
9512 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
9513 customizing the hiding:
9517 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
9518 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
9519 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
9520 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
9521 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
9522 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
9523 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
9528 Starting point of the hidden text.
9530 Ending point of the hidden text.
9532 Number of characters in the hidden region.
9534 Number of lines of hidden text.
9537 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
9538 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
9539 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
9540 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
9541 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
9546 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
9547 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
9549 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
9550 following two variables:
9553 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
9554 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
9555 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
9556 50), hide the cited text.
9558 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
9559 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
9560 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
9565 @kindex W W C (Summary)
9566 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
9567 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
9568 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
9569 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
9570 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
9574 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
9575 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
9576 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
9578 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
9579 citation customization.
9581 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
9585 @node Article Washing
9586 @subsection Article Washing
9588 @cindex article washing
9590 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
9591 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
9593 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
9594 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
9597 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
9598 articles by default.
9603 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
9604 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
9608 Force redisplaying of the current article
9609 (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). This is also not really washing.
9610 If you type this, you see the article without any previously applied
9611 interactive Washing functions but with all default treatments
9612 (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
9615 @kindex W l (Summary)
9616 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
9617 Remove page breaks from the current article
9618 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
9622 @kindex W r (Summary)
9623 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
9624 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
9625 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
9626 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
9627 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
9628 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
9630 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
9631 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
9632 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
9633 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
9636 @kindex W m (Summary)
9637 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
9638 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
9641 @kindex W i (Summary)
9642 @findex gnus-summary-idna-message
9643 Decode IDNA encoded domain names in the current articles. IDNA
9644 encoded domain names looks like @samp{xn--bar}. If a string remain
9645 unencoded after running invoking this, it is likely an invalid IDNA
9646 string (@samp{xn--bar} is invalid). You must have GNU Libidn
9647 (@url{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/}) installed for this command
9652 @kindex W t (Summary)
9654 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
9655 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
9656 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
9659 @kindex W v (Summary)
9660 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
9661 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
9662 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
9665 @kindex W o (Summary)
9666 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
9667 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
9670 @kindex W d (Summary)
9671 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
9672 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
9674 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
9676 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
9677 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
9678 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
9679 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
9682 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
9683 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
9684 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
9685 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
9688 @kindex W Y f (Summary)
9689 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
9690 @cindex Outlook Express
9691 Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
9692 unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
9693 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
9696 @kindex W Y u (Summary)
9697 @findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
9698 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min
9699 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max
9700 Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
9701 what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
9702 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
9703 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the minimum and
9704 maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
9705 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines}).
9708 @kindex W Y a (Summary)
9709 @findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
9710 Repair a broken attribution line.@*
9711 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
9714 @kindex W Y c (Summary)
9715 @findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
9716 Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
9717 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
9720 @kindex W w (Summary)
9721 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
9722 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
9724 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
9728 @kindex W Q (Summary)
9729 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
9730 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
9733 @kindex W C (Summary)
9734 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
9735 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
9736 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
9739 @kindex W c (Summary)
9740 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
9741 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
9742 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
9743 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
9744 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
9747 @kindex W q (Summary)
9748 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
9749 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
9750 Quoted-Printable is one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when
9751 sending non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. It typically
9752 makes strings like @samp{d@'ej@`a vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu},
9753 which doesn't look very readable to me. Note that this is usually
9754 done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
9755 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
9756 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
9759 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
9760 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
9761 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}). Base64 is
9762 one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when sending
9763 non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is
9764 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
9765 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
9766 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
9769 @kindex W Z (Summary)
9770 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
9771 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
9772 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
9773 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
9776 @kindex W A (Summary)
9777 @findex gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences
9778 @cindex @acronym{ANSI} control sequences
9779 Translate @acronym{ANSI} SGR control sequences into overlays or
9780 extents (@code{gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences}). @acronym{ANSI}
9781 sequences are used in some Chinese hierarchies for highlighting.
9784 @kindex W u (Summary)
9785 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
9786 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
9787 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
9788 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
9789 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
9792 @kindex W h (Summary)
9793 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
9794 Treat @acronym{HTML} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
9795 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
9796 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @acronym{HTML}.
9798 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for. If it is a number,
9799 the charset defined in @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist}
9800 (@pxref{Paging the Article}) will be used.
9802 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
9803 The default is to use the function specified by
9804 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display
9805 Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) to convert the
9806 @acronym{HTML}, but this is controlled by the
9807 @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions you
9815 Use @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/, emacs-w3m}.
9817 @item w3m-standalone
9818 Use @uref{http://w3m.sourceforge.net/, w3m}.
9821 Use @uref{http://links.sf.net/, Links}.
9824 Use @uref{http://lynx.isc.org/, Lynx}.
9827 Use html2text---a simple @acronym{HTML} converter included with Gnus.
9832 @kindex W b (Summary)
9833 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
9834 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
9835 @xref{Article Buttons}.
9838 @kindex W B (Summary)
9839 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
9840 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
9841 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
9844 @kindex W p (Summary)
9845 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
9846 Verify a signed control message
9847 (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}). Control messages such as
9848 @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are usually signed by the
9849 hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the @acronym{PGP} public key of
9850 the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
9851 message.@footnote{@acronym{PGP} keys for many hierarchies are
9852 available at @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
9855 @kindex W s (Summary)
9856 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
9857 Verify a signed (@acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME} or
9858 @acronym{S/MIME}) message
9859 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
9862 @kindex W a (Summary)
9863 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
9864 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
9865 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
9868 @kindex W E l (Summary)
9869 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
9870 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
9871 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
9874 @kindex W E m (Summary)
9875 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
9876 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
9877 lines with a single empty line.
9878 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
9881 @kindex W E t (Summary)
9882 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
9883 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
9884 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
9887 @kindex W E a (Summary)
9888 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
9889 Do all the three commands above
9890 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
9893 @kindex W E A (Summary)
9894 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
9895 Remove all blank lines
9896 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
9899 @kindex W E s (Summary)
9900 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
9901 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
9902 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
9905 @kindex W E e (Summary)
9906 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
9907 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
9908 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
9912 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
9915 @node Article Header
9916 @subsection Article Header
9918 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
9923 @kindex W G u (Summary)
9924 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
9925 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
9928 @kindex W G n (Summary)
9929 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
9930 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
9931 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
9934 @kindex W G f (Summary)
9935 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
9936 Fold all the message headers
9937 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
9940 @kindex W E w (Summary)
9941 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
9942 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
9943 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
9948 @node Article Buttons
9949 @subsection Article Buttons
9952 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
9953 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
9954 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
9955 button on these references.
9957 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
9958 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
9959 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man pages and
9960 Emacs or Gnus related references. This is controlled by two variables,
9961 one that handles article bodies and one that handles article heads:
9965 @item gnus-button-alist
9966 @vindex gnus-button-alist
9967 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
9970 (@var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
9976 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
9977 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
9978 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
9979 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
9980 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp} and @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp}.
9983 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
9984 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
9985 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
9988 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
9989 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
9990 avoid false matches. Often variables named
9991 @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} are used here, @xref{Article Button
9992 Levels}, but any other form may be used too.
9994 @c @code{use-p} is @code{eval}ed only if @code{regexp} matches.
9997 This function will be called when you click on this button.
10000 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
10001 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
10005 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
10008 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
10011 @item gnus-header-button-alist
10012 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
10013 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
10014 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
10015 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
10018 (@var{header} @var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
10021 @var{header} is a regular expression.
10024 @subsubsection Related variables and functions
10027 @item gnus-button-@var{*}-level
10028 @xref{Article Button Levels}.
10030 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-browse-level
10032 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
10033 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
10034 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
10035 default values of the variables above.
10037 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-man-level
10039 @item gnus-button-man-handler
10040 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
10041 The function to use for displaying man pages. It must take at least one
10042 argument with a string naming the man page.
10044 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-message-level
10046 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
10047 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
10048 Regular expression that matches a message ID or a mail address.
10050 @item gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
10051 @vindex gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
10052 This variable determines what to do when the button on a string as
10053 @samp{foo123@@bar.invalid} is pushed. Strings like this can be either a
10054 message ID or a mail address. If it is one of the symbols @code{mid} or
10055 @code{mail}, Gnus will always assume that the string is a message ID or
10056 a mail address, respectively. If this variable is set to the symbol
10057 @code{ask}, always query the user what to do. If it is a function, this
10058 function will be called with the string as its only argument. The
10059 function must return @code{mid}, @code{mail}, @code{invalid} or
10060 @code{ask}. The default value is the function
10061 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
10063 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
10064 @findex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
10065 Function that guesses whether its argument is a message ID or a mail
10066 address. Returns @code{mid} if it's a message IDs, @code{mail} if
10067 it's a mail address, @code{ask} if unsure and @code{invalid} if the
10070 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
10071 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
10072 An alist of @code{(RATE . REGEXP)} pairs used by the function
10073 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
10075 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-tex-level
10077 @item gnus-button-ctan-handler
10078 @findex gnus-button-ctan-handler
10079 The function to use for displaying CTAN links. It must take one
10080 argument, the string naming the URL.
10082 @item gnus-ctan-url
10083 @vindex gnus-ctan-url
10084 Top directory of a CTAN (Comprehensive TeX Archive Network) archive used
10085 by @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler}.
10089 @item gnus-article-button-face
10090 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
10091 Face used on buttons.
10093 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
10094 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
10095 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
10099 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
10102 @node Article Button Levels
10103 @subsection Article button levels
10104 @cindex button levels
10105 The higher the value of the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level},
10106 the more buttons will appear. If the level is zero, no corresponding
10107 buttons are displayed. With the default value (which is 5) you should
10108 already see quite a lot of buttons. With higher levels, you will see
10109 more buttons, but you may also get more false positives. To avoid them,
10110 you can set the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} local to
10111 specific groups (@pxref{Group Parameters}). Here's an example for the
10112 variable @code{gnus-parameters}:
10115 ;; @r{increase @code{gnus-button-*-level} in some groups:}
10116 (setq gnus-parameters
10117 '(("\\<\\(emacs\\|gnus\\)\\>" (gnus-button-emacs-level 10))
10118 ("\\<unix\\>" (gnus-button-man-level 10))
10119 ("\\<tex\\>" (gnus-button-tex-level 10))))
10124 @item gnus-button-browse-level
10125 @vindex gnus-button-browse-level
10126 Controls the display of references to message IDs, mail addresses and
10127 news URLs. Related variables and functions include
10128 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}, @code{browse-url}, and
10129 @code{browse-url-browser-function}.
10131 @item gnus-button-emacs-level
10132 @vindex gnus-button-emacs-level
10133 Controls the display of Emacs or Gnus references. Related functions are
10134 @code{gnus-button-handle-custom},
10135 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-function},
10136 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-variable},
10137 @code{gnus-button-handle-symbol},
10138 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-key},
10139 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos},
10140 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-command},
10141 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-variable},
10142 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-documentation}, and
10143 @code{gnus-button-handle-library}.
10145 @item gnus-button-man-level
10146 @vindex gnus-button-man-level
10147 Controls the display of references to (Unix) man pages.
10148 See @code{gnus-button-man-handler}.
10150 @item gnus-button-message-level
10151 @vindex gnus-button-message-level
10152 Controls the display of message IDs, mail addresses and news URLs.
10153 Related variables and functions include
10154 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp},
10155 @code{gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail},
10156 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}, and
10157 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist}.
10159 @item gnus-button-tex-level
10160 @vindex gnus-button-tex-level
10161 Controls the display of references to @TeX{} or LaTeX stuff, e.g. for CTAN
10162 URLs. See the variables @code{gnus-ctan-url},
10163 @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler},
10164 @code{gnus-button-ctan-directory-regexp}, and
10165 @code{gnus-button-handle-ctan-bogus-regexp}.
10171 @subsection Article Date
10173 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
10174 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
10175 when the article was sent.
10180 @kindex W T u (Summary)
10181 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
10182 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
10183 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
10186 @kindex W T i (Summary)
10187 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
10189 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
10190 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
10193 @kindex W T l (Summary)
10194 @findex gnus-article-date-local
10195 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
10198 @kindex W T p (Summary)
10199 @findex gnus-article-date-english
10200 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
10201 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
10204 @kindex W T s (Summary)
10205 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
10206 @findex gnus-article-date-user
10207 @findex format-time-string
10208 Display the date using a user-defined format
10209 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
10210 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
10211 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
10212 for a list of possible format specs.
10215 @kindex W T e (Summary)
10216 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
10217 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
10218 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
10219 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
10220 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
10223 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
10226 @vindex gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header
10227 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
10228 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
10231 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
10232 into wonderful absurdities.
10234 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
10237 (gnus-start-date-timer)
10240 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
10241 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
10245 @kindex W T o (Summary)
10246 @findex gnus-article-date-original
10247 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
10248 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
10249 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
10250 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
10251 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
10255 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
10256 preferred format automatically.
10259 @node Article Display
10260 @subsection Article Display
10265 These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
10266 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
10268 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
10269 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
10271 @code{Face} headers are small colored images supplied by the message
10272 headers (@pxref{Face}).
10274 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
10275 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
10277 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
10278 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
10280 All these functions are toggles---if the elements already exist,
10281 they'll be removed.
10285 @kindex W D x (Summary)
10286 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
10287 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
10288 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
10291 @kindex W D d (Summary)
10292 @findex gnus-article-display-face
10293 Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
10294 (@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
10297 @kindex W D s (Summary)
10298 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
10299 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
10302 @kindex W D f (Summary)
10303 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
10304 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
10307 @kindex W D m (Summary)
10308 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
10309 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
10310 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
10313 @kindex W D n (Summary)
10314 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
10315 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
10316 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
10319 @kindex W D D (Summary)
10320 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
10321 Remove all images from the article buffer
10322 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
10328 @node Article Signature
10329 @subsection Article Signature
10331 @cindex article signature
10333 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
10334 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
10335 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
10336 that says what is to be considered a signature is
10337 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
10338 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
10339 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
10340 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
10341 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
10344 (setq gnus-signature-separator
10345 '("^-- $" ; @r{The standard}
10346 "^-- *$" ; @r{A common mangling}
10347 "^-------*$" ; @r{Many people just use a looong}
10348 ; @r{line of dashes. Shame!}
10349 "^ *--------*$" ; @r{Double-shame!}
10350 "^________*$" ; @r{Underscores are also popular}
10351 "^========*$")) ; @r{Pervert!}
10354 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
10357 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
10358 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
10359 signature when displaying articles.
10363 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
10366 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
10369 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
10370 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
10372 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
10373 in question is not a signature.
10376 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
10377 listed above. Here's an example:
10380 (setq gnus-signature-limit
10381 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
10384 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
10385 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
10386 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
10387 signature after all.
10390 @node Article Miscellanea
10391 @subsection Article Miscellanea
10395 @kindex A t (Summary)
10396 @findex gnus-article-babel
10397 Translate the article from one language to another
10398 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
10403 @node MIME Commands
10404 @section MIME Commands
10405 @cindex MIME decoding
10406 @cindex attachments
10407 @cindex viewing attachments
10409 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
10410 instance, @kbd{3 K v} means ``view the third @acronym{MIME} part''.
10415 @kindex b (Summary)
10416 @kindex K v (Summary)
10417 View the @acronym{MIME} part.
10420 @kindex K o (Summary)
10421 Save the @acronym{MIME} part.
10424 @kindex K O (Summary)
10425 Prompt for a file name, then save the @acronym{MIME} part and strip it
10426 from the article. The stripped @acronym{MIME} object will be referred
10427 via the message/external-body @acronym{MIME} type.
10430 @kindex K r (Summary)
10431 Replace the @acronym{MIME} part with an external body.
10434 @kindex K d (Summary)
10435 Delete the @acronym{MIME} part and add some information about the
10439 @kindex K c (Summary)
10440 Copy the @acronym{MIME} part.
10443 @kindex K e (Summary)
10444 View the @acronym{MIME} part externally.
10447 @kindex K i (Summary)
10448 View the @acronym{MIME} part internally.
10451 @kindex K | (Summary)
10452 Pipe the @acronym{MIME} part to an external command.
10455 The rest of these @acronym{MIME} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
10460 @kindex K H (Summary)
10461 @findex gnus-article-browse-html-article
10462 View @samp{text/html} parts of the current article with a WWW browser.
10463 The message header is added to the beginning of every html part unless
10464 the prefix argument is given.
10466 Warning: Spammers use links to images in HTML articles to verify whether
10467 you have read the message. As this command passes the @acronym{HTML}
10468 content to the browser without eliminating these ``web bugs'' you should
10469 only use it for mails from trusted senders.
10471 If you always want to display @acronym{HTML} parts in the browser, set
10472 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} to @code{nil}.
10475 @kindex K b (Summary)
10476 Make all the @acronym{MIME} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
10477 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
10481 @kindex K m (Summary)
10482 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
10483 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
10484 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
10485 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
10486 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
10489 @kindex X m (Summary)
10490 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
10491 Save all parts matching a @acronym{MIME} type to a directory
10492 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
10493 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10496 @kindex M-t (Summary)
10497 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
10498 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
10499 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
10502 @kindex W M w (Summary)
10503 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
10504 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
10505 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
10508 @kindex W M c (Summary)
10509 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
10510 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
10511 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
10513 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
10514 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
10515 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
10516 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
10517 include @acronym{MIME} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
10518 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
10521 @kindex W M v (Summary)
10522 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
10523 View all the @acronym{MIME} parts in the current article
10524 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
10528 Relevant variables:
10531 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
10532 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
10533 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
10534 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
10537 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
10540 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
10544 @item gnus-article-loose-mime
10545 @vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
10546 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't require the @samp{MIME-Version} header
10547 before interpreting the message as a @acronym{MIME} message. This helps
10548 when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
10549 default is @code{t}.
10551 @item gnus-article-emulate-mime
10552 @vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
10555 There are other, non-@acronym{MIME} encoding methods used. The most common
10556 is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
10557 this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
10558 see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
10559 Gnus @acronym{MIME} machinery. The default is @code{t}. Only
10560 single-part yEnc encoded attachments can be decoded. There's no support
10561 for encoding in Gnus.
10563 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
10564 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
10565 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
10566 this list won't have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
10567 displayed or this variable is overridden by
10568 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
10569 @code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
10570 @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is @code{nil}.
10572 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
10573 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
10574 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
10575 this list will have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
10576 displayed. This variable overrides
10577 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
10578 This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
10581 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
10582 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
10583 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
10585 You could also add @code{"multipart/alternative"} to this list to
10586 display radio buttons that allow you to choose one of two media types
10587 those mails include. See also @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}
10588 (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The
10589 Emacs MIME Manual}).
10591 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
10592 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
10593 If this is non-@code{nil}, then all @acronym{MIME} parts get buttons. The
10594 default value is @code{nil}.
10596 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
10597 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
10598 For each @acronym{MIME} part, this function will be called with the @acronym{MIME}
10599 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
10600 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
10601 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
10602 save all jpegs into some directory).
10604 Here's an example function the does the latter:
10607 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
10608 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
10610 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
10611 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
10612 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
10613 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
10614 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
10617 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
10618 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
10619 Alist of @acronym{MIME} multipart types and functions to handle them.
10621 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed
10622 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed
10623 Display "multipart/alternative" parts as "multipart/mixed".
10625 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed
10626 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed
10627 Display "multipart/related" parts as "multipart/mixed".
10629 If displaying @samp{text/html} is discouraged, see
10630 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}, images or other material inside a
10631 "multipart/related" part might be overlooked when this variable is
10632 @code{nil}. @ref{Display Customization, Display Customization, ,
10633 emacs-mime, Emacs-Mime Manual}.
10635 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-as-mixed
10636 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-as-mixed
10637 Display "multipart" parts as "multipart/mixed". If @code{t}, it
10638 overrides @code{nil} values of
10639 @code{gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed} and
10640 @code{gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed}.
10642 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
10643 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
10644 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @acronym{MIME} parts.
10645 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
10647 Ready-made functions include@*
10648 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
10649 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
10650 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
10651 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
10652 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
10653 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
10654 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
10655 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
10656 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
10657 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
10658 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
10659 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
10661 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
10662 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
10664 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
10665 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
10666 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
10669 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
10670 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
10671 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
10672 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
10676 to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
10685 People use different charsets, and we have @acronym{MIME} to let us know what
10686 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
10687 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @acronym{MIME}, and
10688 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
10689 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
10690 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
10691 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp}.
10693 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
10694 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
10695 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
10696 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
10698 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets
10699 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @acronym{MIME}-aware agents that
10700 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
10701 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
10702 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
10703 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
10704 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
10705 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
10706 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
10708 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
10709 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
10710 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @acronym{MIME}
10711 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
10712 quoted-printable header encoding.
10714 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
10715 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
10716 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
10720 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
10723 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
10724 means encode all charsets),
10726 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
10727 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
10728 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
10735 @cindex coding system aliases
10736 @cindex preferred charset
10738 @xref{Encoding Customization, , Encoding Customization, emacs-mime,
10739 The Emacs MIME Manual}, for additional variables that control which
10740 MIME charsets are used when sending messages.
10742 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
10744 If there are several @acronym{MIME} charsets that encode the same Emacs
10745 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
10748 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
10749 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
10752 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
10753 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @acronym{MIME} charset.
10755 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
10758 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
10761 This will almost do the right thing.
10763 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
10767 (codepage-setup 1251)
10768 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
10772 @node Article Commands
10773 @section Article Commands
10780 @kindex A P (Summary)
10781 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
10782 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
10783 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
10784 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
10785 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
10786 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
10791 @node Summary Sorting
10792 @section Summary Sorting
10793 @cindex summary sorting
10795 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
10796 can't really see why you'd want that.
10801 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
10802 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
10803 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
10805 @item C-c C-s C-m C-n
10806 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
10807 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-number
10808 Sort by most recent article number
10809 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-number}).
10812 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
10813 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
10814 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
10817 @kindex C-c C-s C-t (Summary)
10818 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-recipient
10819 Sort by recipient (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-recipient}).
10822 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
10823 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
10824 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
10827 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
10828 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
10829 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
10831 @item C-c C-s C-m C-d
10832 @kindex C-c C-s C-m C-d (Summary)
10833 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-date
10834 Sort by most recent date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-date}).
10837 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
10838 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
10839 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
10842 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
10843 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
10844 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
10847 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
10848 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
10849 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
10852 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
10853 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
10854 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
10857 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
10858 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
10859 Sort using the default sorting method
10860 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
10863 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
10864 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
10865 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
10866 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
10867 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
10870 If a prefix argument if given, the sort order is reversed.
10873 @node Finding the Parent
10874 @section Finding the Parent
10875 @cindex parent articles
10876 @cindex referring articles
10880 @kindex ^ (Summary)
10881 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
10882 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
10883 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
10884 if the current group is fetched by @acronym{NNTP}, the parent hasn't expired
10885 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
10886 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
10887 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
10888 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
10889 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
10891 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
10892 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
10893 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
10894 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
10895 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
10898 @item A R (Summary)
10899 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
10900 @kindex A R (Summary)
10901 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
10902 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
10904 @item A T (Summary)
10905 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
10906 @kindex A T (Summary)
10907 Display the full thread where the current article appears
10908 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
10909 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
10910 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
10911 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
10912 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
10913 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
10915 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
10916 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
10917 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
10918 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
10919 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
10920 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
10922 @item M-^ (Summary)
10923 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
10924 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
10926 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
10927 You can also ask Gnus for an arbitrary article, no matter what group it
10928 belongs to. @kbd{M-^} (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you
10929 for a @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read
10930 thingies that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}.
10931 You have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
10933 Gnus looks for the @code{Message-ID} in the headers that have already
10934 been fetched, but also tries all the select methods specified by
10935 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} if it is not found.
10938 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
10939 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
10940 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
10941 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @acronym{NNTP} method. It
10942 would, perhaps, be best if the @acronym{NNTP} server you consult is the one
10943 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
10946 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
10947 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
10948 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
10951 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
10952 then ask Google if that fails:
10955 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
10957 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
10960 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
10961 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
10962 @code{nnbabyl}, @code{nnmaildir}, @code{nnml}, are able to locate
10963 articles from any groups, while @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
10964 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current
10965 group. (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does
10966 not support this at all.
10969 @node Alternative Approaches
10970 @section Alternative Approaches
10972 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
10973 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
10976 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
10977 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
10981 @node Pick and Read
10982 @subsection Pick and Read
10983 @cindex pick and read
10985 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
10986 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
10987 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
10988 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
10990 @findex gnus-pick-mode
10991 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
10992 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
10993 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
10994 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
10995 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
10997 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
11002 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
11003 Pick the article or thread on the current line
11004 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
11005 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
11006 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
11007 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
11008 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
11009 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
11012 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
11013 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
11014 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
11015 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
11019 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
11020 Unpick the thread or article
11021 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
11022 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
11023 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
11024 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
11025 the thread or article at that line.
11029 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
11030 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
11031 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
11032 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
11033 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
11034 will still be visible when you are reading.
11038 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
11039 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
11040 which is mapped to the same function
11041 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
11043 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
11046 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
11049 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
11050 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
11052 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
11053 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
11054 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
11056 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
11057 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
11058 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
11059 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
11060 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
11061 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
11062 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
11065 @node Binary Groups
11066 @subsection Binary Groups
11067 @cindex binary groups
11069 @findex gnus-binary-mode
11070 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
11071 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
11072 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
11073 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
11074 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
11075 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
11078 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
11079 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
11080 command, when you have turned on this mode
11081 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
11083 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
11084 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
11088 @section Tree Display
11091 @vindex gnus-use-trees
11092 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
11093 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
11094 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
11095 in the tree buffer.
11097 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
11100 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
11101 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
11102 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
11104 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
11105 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
11106 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
11107 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
11108 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
11110 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
11111 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
11112 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
11113 default is @code{modeline}.
11115 @item gnus-tree-line-format
11116 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
11117 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
11118 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
11119 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
11120 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
11121 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
11127 The name of the poster.
11129 The @code{From} header.
11131 The number of the article.
11133 The opening bracket.
11135 The closing bracket.
11140 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
11142 Variables related to the display are:
11145 @item gnus-tree-brackets
11146 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
11147 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
11148 ``sparse'' articles. The format is
11150 ((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
11151 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close})
11152 (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))
11154 and the default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
11156 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
11157 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
11158 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
11159 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
11163 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
11164 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
11165 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
11166 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
11167 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
11168 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
11169 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
11170 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
11171 other windows displayed next to it.
11173 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
11177 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
11178 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
11181 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
11182 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
11183 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
11184 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
11185 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
11186 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
11187 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
11191 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
11194 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
11204 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
11209 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
11210 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
11212 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
11214 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
11220 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
11221 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
11222 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
11225 (setq gnus-use-trees t
11226 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
11227 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
11228 (gnus-add-configuration
11232 (summary 0.75 point)
11237 @xref{Window Layout}.
11240 @node Mail Group Commands
11241 @section Mail Group Commands
11242 @cindex mail group commands
11244 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
11245 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
11247 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
11248 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
11253 @kindex B e (Summary)
11254 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
11255 @cindex expiring mail
11256 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
11257 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
11258 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
11259 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
11262 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
11263 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
11264 @cindex expiring mail
11265 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
11266 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
11267 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
11268 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
11271 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
11272 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
11273 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
11274 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
11275 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
11276 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
11279 @kindex B m (Summary)
11281 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
11282 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
11283 Move the article from one mail group to another
11284 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
11285 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
11288 @kindex B c (Summary)
11290 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
11291 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
11292 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
11293 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
11294 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
11297 @kindex B B (Summary)
11298 @cindex crosspost mail
11299 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
11300 Crosspost the current article to some other group
11301 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
11302 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
11303 be properly updated.
11306 @kindex B i (Summary)
11307 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
11308 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
11309 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
11310 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
11313 @kindex B I (Summary)
11314 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
11315 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
11316 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
11317 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
11320 @kindex B r (Summary)
11321 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
11322 @vindex gnus-summary-respool-default-method
11323 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
11324 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
11325 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
11326 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
11327 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
11328 (which is the default).
11332 @kindex B w (Summary)
11333 @kindex e (Summary)
11334 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
11335 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
11336 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
11337 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
11338 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
11339 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
11340 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
11343 @kindex B q (Summary)
11344 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
11345 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
11346 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
11347 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
11350 @kindex B t (Summary)
11351 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
11352 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
11353 when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
11356 @kindex B p (Summary)
11357 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
11358 Some people have a tendency to send you ``courtesy'' copies when they
11359 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
11360 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
11361 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
11362 article from your news server (or rather, from
11363 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
11364 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
11365 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
11366 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
11367 just not have arrived yet.
11370 @kindex K E (Summary)
11371 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
11372 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
11373 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
11374 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
11375 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
11379 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
11380 @cindex moving articles
11381 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
11382 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
11383 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
11384 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
11385 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
11386 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
11387 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
11390 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
11391 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
11392 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
11393 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
11397 @node Various Summary Stuff
11398 @section Various Summary Stuff
11401 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
11402 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
11403 * Summary Generation Commands::
11404 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
11408 @vindex gnus-summary-display-while-building
11409 @item gnus-summary-display-while-building
11410 If non-@code{nil}, show and update the summary buffer as it's being
11411 built. If @code{t}, update the buffer after every line is inserted.
11412 If the value is an integer, @var{n}, update the display every @var{n}
11413 lines. The default is @code{nil}.
11415 @vindex gnus-summary-display-arrow
11416 @item gnus-summary-display-arrow
11417 If non-@code{nil}, display an arrow in the fringe to indicate the
11420 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
11421 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
11422 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
11424 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
11425 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
11426 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
11427 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
11428 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
11429 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
11432 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
11433 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
11434 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
11435 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
11436 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
11438 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
11439 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
11440 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
11443 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
11444 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
11445 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
11446 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
11447 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
11448 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
11449 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
11450 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
11451 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
11452 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
11454 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
11455 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
11456 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
11457 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
11458 list of articles to be selected.
11460 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
11461 the list in one particular group:
11464 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
11465 (if (string= group "some.group")
11466 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
11470 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
11471 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
11472 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
11473 variables and their default expressions to be evalled (when the default
11474 values are not @code{nil}), that should be made global while the summary
11477 Note: The default expressions will be evaluated (using function
11478 @code{eval}) before assignment to the local variable rather than just
11479 assigned to it. If the default expression is the symbol @code{global},
11480 that symbol will not be evaluated but the global value of the local
11481 variable will be used instead.
11483 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
11484 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
11485 buffers. For example:
11488 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
11489 '(message-use-followup-to
11490 (gnus-visible-headers .
11491 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
11494 Also @pxref{Group Parameters}.
11496 @vindex gnus-propagate-marks
11497 @item gnus-propagate-marks
11498 If non-@code{nil}, propagate marks to the backends for possible
11499 storing. @xref{NNTP marks}, and friends, for a more fine-grained
11505 @node Summary Group Information
11506 @subsection Summary Group Information
11511 @kindex H f (Summary)
11512 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
11513 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
11514 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} (list of frequently asked questions)
11515 for the current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try
11516 to get the @acronym{FAQ} from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which
11517 is usually a directory on a remote machine. This variable can also be
11518 a list of directories. In that case, giving a prefix to this command
11519 will allow you to choose between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp}
11520 or @code{efs} will probably be used for fetching the file.
11523 @kindex H d (Summary)
11524 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
11525 Give a brief description of the current group
11526 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
11527 rereading the description from the server.
11530 @kindex H h (Summary)
11531 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
11532 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
11533 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
11536 @kindex H i (Summary)
11537 @findex gnus-info-find-node
11538 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
11542 @node Searching for Articles
11543 @subsection Searching for Articles
11548 @kindex M-s (Summary)
11549 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
11550 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
11551 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
11554 @kindex M-r (Summary)
11555 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
11556 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
11557 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
11560 @kindex M-S (Summary)
11561 @findex gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-forward
11562 Repeat the previous search forwards
11563 (@code{gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-forward}).
11566 @kindex M-R (Summary)
11567 @findex gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-backward
11568 Repeat the previous search backwards
11569 (@code{gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-backward}).
11572 @kindex & (Summary)
11573 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
11574 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
11575 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
11576 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
11577 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
11578 search backward instead.
11580 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string RET #} will put the process mark on
11581 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
11584 @kindex M-& (Summary)
11585 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
11586 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
11587 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
11590 @node Summary Generation Commands
11591 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
11596 @kindex Y g (Summary)
11597 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
11598 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
11601 @kindex Y c (Summary)
11602 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
11603 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
11604 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
11607 @kindex Y d (Summary)
11608 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
11609 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
11610 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
11613 @kindex Y t (Summary)
11614 @findex gnus-summary-insert-ticked-articles
11615 Pull all ticked articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
11616 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-ticked-articles}).
11621 @node Really Various Summary Commands
11622 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
11628 @kindex C-d (Summary)
11629 @kindex A D (Summary)
11630 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
11631 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
11632 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
11633 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
11634 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
11635 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
11636 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
11637 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
11640 @vindex gnus-auto-select-on-ephemeral-exit
11641 The variable @code{gnus-auto-select-on-ephemeral-exit} controls what
11642 article should be selected after exiting a digest group. Valid values
11647 Select the next article.
11650 Select the next unread article.
11652 @item next-noselect
11653 Move the cursor to the next article. This is the default.
11655 @item next-unread-noselect
11656 Move the cursor to the next unread article.
11659 If it has any other value or there is no next (unread) article, the
11660 article selected before entering to the digest group will appear.
11663 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
11664 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
11665 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
11666 several documents into one biiig group
11667 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
11668 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
11669 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
11670 command understands the process/prefix convention
11671 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
11674 @kindex C-t (Summary)
11675 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
11676 Toggle truncation of summary lines
11677 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
11678 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
11679 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
11682 @kindex = (Summary)
11683 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
11684 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
11685 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
11688 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
11689 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
11690 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
11691 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
11694 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
11695 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
11696 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
11697 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
11702 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
11703 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
11704 @cindex summary exit
11705 @cindex exiting groups
11707 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
11708 group and return you to the group buffer.
11715 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
11716 @kindex Z Q (Summary)
11717 @kindex q (Summary)
11718 @findex gnus-summary-exit
11719 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
11720 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
11721 @vindex gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook
11722 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
11723 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
11724 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
11725 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
11726 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
11727 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
11728 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
11729 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
11733 @kindex Z E (Summary)
11734 @kindex Q (Summary)
11735 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
11736 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
11737 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
11741 @kindex Z c (Summary)
11742 @kindex c (Summary)
11743 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
11744 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
11745 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
11746 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
11749 @kindex Z C (Summary)
11750 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
11751 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
11752 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
11755 @kindex Z n (Summary)
11756 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
11757 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
11758 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
11761 @kindex Z p (Summary)
11762 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-prev-group
11763 Mark all articles as read and go to the previous group
11764 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-prev-group}).
11768 @kindex Z R (Summary)
11769 @kindex C-x C-s (Summary)
11770 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
11771 Exit this group, and then enter it again
11772 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
11773 all articles, both read and unread.
11777 @kindex Z G (Summary)
11778 @kindex M-g (Summary)
11779 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
11780 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
11781 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
11782 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
11783 articles, both read and unread.
11786 @kindex Z N (Summary)
11787 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
11788 Exit the group and go to the next group
11789 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
11792 @kindex Z P (Summary)
11793 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
11794 Exit the group and go to the previous group
11795 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
11798 @kindex Z s (Summary)
11799 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
11800 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
11801 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
11802 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
11803 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
11806 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
11807 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
11808 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
11809 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
11811 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
11812 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
11813 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
11814 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
11815 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
11816 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
11817 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
11818 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
11819 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
11820 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
11821 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
11822 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
11824 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
11826 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
11827 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
11828 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
11829 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
11830 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
11831 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
11832 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
11833 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
11834 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
11837 @node Crosspost Handling
11838 @section Crosspost Handling
11842 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
11843 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
11844 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
11845 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
11846 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
11847 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
11850 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
11851 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
11852 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
11853 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
11854 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
11856 @cindex cross-posting
11858 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
11859 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
11860 correctly is if you use an @acronym{NNTP} server that supports @sc{xover}
11861 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
11862 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @acronym{NOV} lines. This is
11863 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
11864 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
11865 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
11866 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
11867 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
11868 the cross reference mechanism.
11870 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
11871 @cindex overview.fmt
11872 To check whether your @acronym{NNTP} server includes the @code{Xref} header
11873 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
11874 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
11875 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
11876 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
11877 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
11880 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
11881 set @code{nntp-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
11882 considerably. Also @pxref{Slow/Expensive Connection}.
11886 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
11889 @node Duplicate Suppression
11890 @section Duplicate Suppression
11892 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
11893 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
11894 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
11895 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
11900 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
11901 is evil and not very common.
11904 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
11905 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
11908 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
11909 different @acronym{NNTP} servers.
11912 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
11915 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
11916 well, but these four are the most common situations.
11918 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
11919 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
11920 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
11921 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
11922 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
11923 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
11924 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
11927 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
11928 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
11929 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
11930 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
11931 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
11932 saw the article in.
11935 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
11936 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
11937 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
11939 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
11940 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
11941 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
11942 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
11943 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
11944 session are suppressed.
11946 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
11947 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
11948 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
11949 suppression list. The default is 10000.
11951 @item gnus-duplicate-file
11952 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
11953 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
11954 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
11957 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
11958 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
11959 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
11960 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
11961 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
11962 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
11963 to you to figure out, I think.
11968 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
11969 The formats that are supported are @acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME}
11970 and @acronym{S/MIME}, however you need some external programs to get
11975 To handle @acronym{PGP} and @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages, you have to
11976 install an OpenPGP implementation such as GnuPG. The Lisp interface
11977 to GnuPG included with Gnus is called PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg, PGG
11978 Manual}), but Mailcrypt and gpg.el are also supported.
11981 To handle @acronym{S/MIME} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
11982 or newer is recommended.
11986 The variables that control security functionality on reading messages
11990 @item mm-verify-option
11991 @vindex mm-verify-option
11992 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
11993 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
11994 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
11996 @item mm-decrypt-option
11997 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
11998 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
11999 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
12000 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
12003 @vindex mml1991-use
12004 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
12005 @acronym{PGP} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
12006 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
12010 @vindex mml2015-use
12011 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
12012 @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
12013 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
12018 By default the buttons that display security information are not
12019 shown, because they clutter reading the actual e-mail. You can type
12020 @kbd{K b} manually to display the information. Use the
12021 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types} and
12022 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} variables to control this
12023 permanently. @ref{MIME Commands} for further details, and hints on
12024 how to customize these variables to always display security
12027 @cindex snarfing keys
12028 @cindex importing PGP keys
12029 @cindex PGP key ring import
12030 Snarfing OpenPGP keys (i.e., importing keys from articles into your
12031 key ring) is not supported explicitly through a menu item or command,
12032 rather Gnus do detect and label keys as @samp{application/pgp-keys},
12033 allowing you to specify whatever action you think is appropriate
12034 through the usual @acronym{MIME} infrastructure. You can use a
12035 @file{~/.mailcap} entry (@pxref{mailcap, , mailcap, emacs-mime, The
12036 Emacs MIME Manual}) such as the following to import keys using GNU
12037 Privacy Guard when you click on the @acronym{MIME} button
12038 (@pxref{Using MIME}).
12041 application/pgp-keys; gpg --import --interactive --verbose; needsterminal
12044 This happens to also be the default action defined in
12045 @code{mailcap-mime-data}.
12047 More information on how to set things for sending outgoing signed and
12048 encrypted messages up can be found in the message manual
12049 (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
12052 @section Mailing List
12053 @cindex mailing list
12056 @kindex A M (summary)
12057 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
12058 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
12059 add a @code{to-list} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
12060 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
12063 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
12068 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
12069 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
12070 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
12073 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
12074 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
12075 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
12078 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
12079 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
12080 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
12084 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
12085 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
12086 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
12089 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
12090 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
12091 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
12094 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
12095 @findex gnus-mailing-list-archive
12096 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
12101 @node Article Buffer
12102 @chapter Article Buffer
12103 @cindex article buffer
12105 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
12106 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
12107 tell Gnus otherwise.
12110 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
12111 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
12112 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
12113 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
12114 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
12118 @node Hiding Headers
12119 @section Hiding Headers
12120 @cindex hiding headers
12121 @cindex deleting headers
12123 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
12124 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
12126 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
12127 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
12128 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
12129 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
12130 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
12131 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
12132 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseam---and you'll probably want to get rid
12133 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
12134 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
12136 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
12140 @item gnus-visible-headers
12141 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
12142 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
12143 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
12144 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
12146 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
12147 the article and the subject, you'd say:
12150 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
12153 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
12156 @item gnus-ignored-headers
12157 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
12158 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
12159 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
12160 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
12161 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
12163 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
12164 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
12167 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
12170 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
12173 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
12174 variable will have no effect.
12178 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
12179 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
12180 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
12181 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
12182 the headers are to be displayed.
12184 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
12185 and then the subject, you might say something like:
12188 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
12191 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
12192 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
12194 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
12195 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
12196 You can hide further boring headers by setting
12197 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
12198 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
12199 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead it
12200 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
12203 These conditions are:
12206 Remove all empty headers.
12208 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
12209 @code{Newsgroups} header.
12211 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same addresses as
12212 the @code{From} header, or if the @code{broken-reply-to} group
12215 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
12218 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
12219 the current group's @code{to-address} parameter.
12221 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
12222 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
12224 Remove the @code{Cc} header if it only contains the address identical to
12225 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
12227 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
12230 Remove the @code{To} and/or @code{Cc} header if it is very long.
12232 Remove all @code{To} and/or @code{Cc} headers if there are more than one.
12235 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
12238 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
12239 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
12242 This is also the default value for this variable.
12246 @section Using MIME
12247 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
12249 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
12250 while people stand around yawning.
12252 @acronym{MIME}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
12253 while all newsreaders die of fear.
12255 @acronym{MIME} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
12256 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
12257 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
12259 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
12260 @findex gnus-display-mime
12261 Gnus pushes @acronym{MIME} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
12262 to display the @acronym{MIME} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
12263 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
12264 display, save and manipulate the @acronym{MIME} objects.
12266 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
12267 @acronym{MIME} button:
12270 @findex gnus-article-press-button
12271 @item RET (Article)
12272 @kindex RET (Article)
12273 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
12274 Toggle displaying of the @acronym{MIME} object
12275 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}). If built-in viewers can not display
12276 the object, Gnus resorts to external viewers in the @file{mailcap}
12277 files. If a viewer has the @samp{copiousoutput} specification, the
12278 object is displayed inline.
12280 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
12281 @item M-RET (Article)
12282 @kindex M-RET (Article)
12284 Prompt for a method, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
12285 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
12287 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
12289 @kindex t (Article)
12290 View the @acronym{MIME} object as if it were a different @acronym{MIME} media type
12291 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
12293 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
12295 @kindex C (Article)
12296 Prompt for a charset, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
12297 charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
12299 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
12301 @kindex o (Article)
12302 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @acronym{MIME} object
12303 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
12305 @findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
12306 @item C-o (Article)
12307 @kindex C-o (Article)
12308 Prompt for a file name, then save the @acronym{MIME} object and strip it from
12309 the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
12310 suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
12311 like. The stripped @acronym{MIME} object will be referred via the
12312 message/external-body @acronym{MIME} type.
12313 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
12315 @findex gnus-mime-replace-part
12317 @kindex r (Article)
12318 Prompt for a file name, replace the @acronym{MIME} object with an
12319 external body refering to the file via the message/external-body
12320 @acronym{MIME} type. (@code{gnus-mime-replace-part}).
12322 @findex gnus-mime-delete-part
12324 @kindex d (Article)
12325 Delete the @acronym{MIME} object from the article and replace it with some
12326 information about the removed @acronym{MIME} object
12327 (@code{gnus-mime-delete-part}).
12329 @c FIXME: gnus-auto-select-part should be documented here
12331 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
12333 @kindex c (Article)
12334 Copy the @acronym{MIME} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
12335 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}). If given a prefix, copy the raw contents
12336 without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual
12337 charset stuff (see @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in
12338 @ref{Paging the Article}). Compressed files like @file{.gz} and
12339 @file{.bz2} are automatically decompressed if
12340 @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled (@pxref{Compressed Files,,
12341 Accessing Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Editor}).
12343 @findex gnus-mime-print-part
12345 @kindex p (Article)
12346 Print the @acronym{MIME} object (@code{gnus-mime-print-part}). This
12347 command respects the @samp{print=} specifications in the
12348 @file{.mailcap} file.
12350 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
12352 @kindex i (Article)
12353 Insert the contents of the @acronym{MIME} object into the buffer
12354 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as @samp{text/plain}. If given a prefix, insert
12355 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
12356 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
12357 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @ref{Paging the
12358 Article}). Compressed files like @file{.gz} and @file{.bz2} are
12359 automatically decompressed depending on @code{jka-compr} regardless of
12360 @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed Files,, Accessing
12361 Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Editor}).
12363 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-internally
12365 @kindex E (Article)
12366 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
12367 viewer is available, use an external viewer
12368 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-internally}).
12370 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-externally
12372 @kindex e (Article)
12373 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an external viewer.
12374 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-externally}).
12376 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
12378 @kindex | (Article)
12379 Output the @acronym{MIME} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
12381 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
12383 @kindex . (Article)
12384 Interactively run an action on the @acronym{MIME} object
12385 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
12389 Gnus will display some @acronym{MIME} objects automatically. The way Gnus
12390 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs
12391 @acronym{MIME} manual.
12393 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
12394 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
12395 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @acronym{MIME} has
12396 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
12397 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
12398 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
12399 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
12400 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
12401 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
12403 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
12405 Also @pxref{MIME Commands}.
12408 @node Customizing Articles
12409 @section Customizing Articles
12410 @cindex article customization
12412 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
12413 exist. You can call these functions interactively
12414 (@pxref{Article Washing}), or you can have them
12415 called automatically when you select the articles.
12417 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
12418 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
12419 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
12420 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
12422 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
12423 for sensible values.
12427 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
12430 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
12433 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
12436 @code{first}: Do this treatment on the first body part.
12439 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last body part.
12442 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
12446 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
12447 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
12448 regexps in the list.
12451 A list where the first element is not a string:
12453 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
12454 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
12455 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
12459 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
12464 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
12465 to the fact that some messages are @acronym{MIME} multipart articles that may
12466 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
12467 considered to contain just a single part.
12469 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
12470 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
12471 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
12472 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
12473 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
12474 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
12475 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
12478 @c Avoid sort of redundant entries in the same section for the printed
12479 @c manual, but add them in info to allow `i gnus-treat-foo-bar RET' or
12481 @vindex gnus-treat-buttonize
12482 @vindex gnus-treat-buttonize-head
12483 @vindex gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences
12484 @vindex gnus-treat-overstrike
12485 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-cr
12486 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body
12487 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines
12488 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines
12489 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-pem
12490 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines
12491 @vindex gnus-treat-unsplit-urls
12492 @vindex gnus-treat-wash-html
12493 @vindex gnus-treat-date-english
12494 @vindex gnus-treat-date-iso8601
12495 @vindex gnus-treat-date-lapsed
12496 @vindex gnus-treat-date-local
12497 @vindex gnus-treat-date-original
12498 @vindex gnus-treat-date-user-defined
12499 @vindex gnus-treat-date-ut
12500 @vindex gnus-treat-from-picon
12501 @vindex gnus-treat-mail-picon
12502 @vindex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
12503 @vindex gnus-treat-display-smileys
12504 @vindex gnus-treat-body-boundary
12505 @vindex gnus-treat-display-x-face
12506 @vindex gnus-treat-display-face
12507 @vindex gnus-treat-emphasize
12508 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-article
12509 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-long-lines
12510 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers
12511 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation
12512 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe
12513 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-headers
12514 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-signature
12515 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-banner
12516 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers
12517 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-citation
12518 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-headers
12519 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-signature
12520 @vindex gnus-treat-play-sounds
12521 @vindex gnus-treat-translate
12522 @vindex gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig
12523 @vindex gnus-treat-unfold-headers
12524 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-headers
12525 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups
12526 @vindex gnus-treat-leading-whitespace
12529 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
12530 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
12531 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
12532 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
12535 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
12536 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
12538 @xref{Article Buttons}.
12540 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
12541 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
12542 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
12543 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
12544 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, first, integer)
12545 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
12546 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
12547 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
12548 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
12549 @item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
12551 @xref{Article Washing}.
12553 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
12554 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
12555 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
12556 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
12557 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
12558 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
12559 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
12561 @xref{Article Date}.
12563 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
12564 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
12565 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
12569 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
12571 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
12573 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
12574 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
12575 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
12579 @vindex gnus-treat-display-x-face
12580 @item gnus-treat-display-x-face (head)
12584 @vindex gnus-treat-display-face
12585 @item gnus-treat-display-face (head)
12589 @vindex gnus-treat-emphasize
12590 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
12591 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-article
12592 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
12593 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-long-lines
12594 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
12595 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers
12596 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
12597 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation
12598 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
12599 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe
12600 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
12601 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-headers
12602 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
12603 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-signature
12604 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
12605 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-banner
12606 @item gnus-treat-strip-banner (t, last)
12607 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers
12608 @item gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers (head)
12610 @xref{Article Hiding}.
12612 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-citation
12613 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
12614 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-headers
12615 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
12616 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-signature
12617 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
12619 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
12621 @vindex gnus-treat-play-sounds
12622 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
12623 @vindex gnus-treat-translate
12624 @item gnus-treat-translate
12625 @item gnus-treat-ansi-sequences (t)
12626 @vindex gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig
12627 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
12629 @vindex gnus-treat-unfold-headers
12630 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
12631 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-headers
12632 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
12633 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups
12634 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
12635 @vindex gnus-treat-leading-whitespace
12636 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
12638 @xref{Article Header}.
12643 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
12644 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
12645 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
12646 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
12647 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
12651 @node Article Keymap
12652 @section Article Keymap
12654 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
12655 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
12656 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
12657 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
12660 @kindex v (Article)
12661 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Article)
12662 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
12663 command or better use it as a prefix key.
12665 A few additional keystrokes are available:
12670 @kindex SPACE (Article)
12671 @findex gnus-article-next-page
12672 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
12673 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h SPACE h}.
12676 @kindex DEL (Article)
12677 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
12678 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
12679 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h DEL h}.
12682 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
12683 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
12684 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
12685 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
12686 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
12689 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
12690 @findex gnus-article-mail
12691 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
12692 given a prefix, include the mail.
12695 @kindex s (Article)
12696 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
12697 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
12698 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
12701 @kindex ? (Article)
12702 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
12703 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
12704 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
12707 @kindex TAB (Article)
12708 @findex gnus-article-next-button
12709 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
12710 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
12713 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
12714 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
12715 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
12718 @kindex R (Article)
12719 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
12720 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
12721 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If the region is active,
12722 only yank the text in the region.
12725 @kindex S W (Article)
12726 @findex gnus-article-wide-reply-with-original
12727 Send a wide reply to the current article and yank the current article
12728 (@code{gnus-article-wide-reply-with-original}). If the region is
12729 active, only yank the text in the region.
12732 @kindex F (Article)
12733 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
12734 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
12735 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If the region is active,
12736 only yank the text in the region.
12743 @section Misc Article
12747 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
12748 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
12749 @cindex article buffers, several
12750 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
12751 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
12754 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
12755 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
12756 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
12757 Hook used to decode @acronym{MIME} articles. The default value is
12758 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
12760 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
12761 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
12762 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
12763 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
12764 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
12765 the contents of the article buffer.
12767 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
12768 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
12769 Hook called in article mode buffers.
12771 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
12772 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
12773 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
12774 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
12776 @vindex gnus-article-over-scroll
12777 @item gnus-article-over-scroll
12778 If non-@code{nil}, allow scrolling the article buffer even when there
12779 no more new text to scroll in. The default is @code{nil}.
12781 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
12782 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
12783 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
12784 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Summary Buffer Mode
12785 Line}). It accepts the same format specifications as that variable,
12786 with two extensions:
12791 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
12792 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
12793 performed. The characters and their meaning:
12798 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
12801 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
12804 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
12805 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
12806 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
12809 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
12812 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
12815 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasized strings in the article buffer.
12820 The number of @acronym{MIME} parts in the article.
12824 @vindex gnus-break-pages
12826 @item gnus-break-pages
12827 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
12828 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
12829 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
12830 paging will not be done.
12832 @item gnus-page-delimiter
12833 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
12834 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
12838 @cindex internationalized domain names
12839 @vindex gnus-use-idna
12840 @item gnus-use-idna
12841 This variable controls whether Gnus performs IDNA decoding of
12842 internationalized domain names inside @samp{From}, @samp{To} and
12843 @samp{Cc} headers. @xref{IDNA, ,IDNA,message, The Message Manual},
12844 for how to compose such messages. This requires
12845 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/, GNU Libidn}, and this
12846 variable is only enabled if you have installed it.
12851 @node Composing Messages
12852 @chapter Composing Messages
12853 @cindex composing messages
12856 @cindex sending mail
12861 @cindex using s/mime
12862 @cindex using smime
12864 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
12865 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
12866 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
12867 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
12868 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
12869 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
12872 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
12873 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
12874 * POP before SMTP:: You cannot send a mail unless you read a mail.
12875 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
12876 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
12877 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
12878 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
12879 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
12880 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
12883 Also @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
12884 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
12890 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
12893 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
12894 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
12895 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
12896 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
12897 @code{nil} include all headers.
12899 @item gnus-add-to-list
12900 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
12901 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
12902 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
12904 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
12905 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
12906 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you for a confirmation when you are
12907 about to reply to news articles by mail. If it is @code{nil}, nothing
12908 interferes in what you want to do. This can also be a function
12909 receiving the group name as the only parameter which should return
12910 non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is needed, or a regular expression
12911 matching group names, where confirmation should be asked for.
12913 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
12914 press @kbd{R} anyway, this variable might be for you.
12916 @item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
12917 @vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
12918 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
12919 @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
12920 useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
12925 @node Posting Server
12926 @section Posting Server
12928 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
12929 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
12931 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
12933 It can be quite complicated.
12935 @vindex gnus-post-method
12936 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
12937 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
12938 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
12939 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
12940 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
12941 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
12942 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
12943 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
12944 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
12947 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
12950 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
12951 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
12952 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
12953 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
12955 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
12956 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
12958 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
12959 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
12962 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
12963 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
12965 @vindex message-send-mail-function
12966 When sending mail, Message invokes the function specified by the
12967 variable @code{message-send-mail-function}. Gnus tries to set it to a
12968 value suitable for your system.
12969 @xref{Mail Variables, ,Mail Variables,message,Message manual}, for more
12972 @node POP before SMTP
12973 @section POP before SMTP
12974 @cindex pop before smtp
12975 @findex message-smtpmail-send-it
12976 @findex mail-source-touch-pop
12978 Does your @acronym{ISP} require the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP}
12979 authentication? It is whether you need to connect to the @acronym{POP}
12980 mail server within a certain time before sending mails. If so, there is
12981 a convenient way. To do that, put the following lines in your
12982 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
12985 (setq message-send-mail-function 'message-smtpmail-send-it)
12986 (add-hook 'message-send-mail-hook 'mail-source-touch-pop)
12990 It means to let Gnus connect to the @acronym{POP} mail server in advance
12991 whenever you send a mail. The @code{mail-source-touch-pop} function
12992 does only a @acronym{POP} authentication according to the value of
12993 @code{mail-sources} without fetching mails, just before sending a mail.
12994 Note that you have to use @code{message-smtpmail-send-it} which runs
12995 @code{message-send-mail-hook} rather than @code{smtpmail-send-it} and
12996 set the value of @code{mail-sources} for a @acronym{POP} connection
12997 correctly. @xref{Mail Sources}.
12999 If you have two or more @acronym{POP} mail servers set in
13000 @code{mail-sources}, you may want to specify one of them to
13001 @code{mail-source-primary-source} as the @acronym{POP} mail server to be
13002 used for the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication. If it
13003 is your primary @acronym{POP} mail server (i.e., you are fetching mails
13004 mainly from that server), you can set it permanently as follows:
13007 (setq mail-source-primary-source
13008 '(pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13009 :password "secret"))
13013 Otherwise, bind it dynamically only when performing the
13014 @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication as follows:
13017 (add-hook 'message-send-mail-hook
13019 (let ((mail-source-primary-source
13020 '(pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13021 :password "secret")))
13022 (mail-source-touch-pop))))
13025 @node Mail and Post
13026 @section Mail and Post
13028 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
13032 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
13033 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
13034 @cindex mailing lists
13036 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
13037 gatewayed to the @acronym{NNTP} server, you can read those groups without
13038 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
13039 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
13040 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
13041 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
13042 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
13043 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
13044 still a pain, though.
13046 @item gnus-user-agent
13047 @vindex gnus-user-agent
13050 This variable controls which information should be exposed in the
13051 User-Agent header. It can be a list of symbols or a string. Valid
13052 symbols are @code{gnus} (show Gnus version) and @code{emacs} (show Emacs
13053 version). In addition to the Emacs version, you can add @code{codename}
13054 (show (S)XEmacs codename) or either @code{config} (show system
13055 configuration) or @code{type} (show system type). If you set it to a
13056 string, be sure to use a valid format, see RFC 2616.
13060 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
13061 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
13062 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
13065 @findex ispell-message
13067 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
13070 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
13071 you're in, you could say something like the following:
13074 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
13078 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
13079 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
13081 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
13084 Modify to suit your needs.
13086 @vindex gnus-message-highlight-citation
13087 If @code{gnus-message-highlight-citation} is t, different levels of
13088 citations are highlighted like in Gnus article buffers also in message
13091 @node Archived Messages
13092 @section Archived Messages
13093 @cindex archived messages
13094 @cindex sent messages
13096 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
13097 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
13098 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
13099 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
13102 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
13103 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
13106 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
13107 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
13108 use to store sent messages. The default is @code{"archive"}, and when
13109 actually being used it is expanded into:
13112 (nnfolder "archive"
13113 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
13114 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
13115 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
13116 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
13120 @vindex gnus-update-message-archive-method
13121 Note: a server like this is saved in the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file first
13122 so that it may be used as a real method of the server which is named
13123 @code{"archive"} (that is, for the case where
13124 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} is set to @code{"archive"}) ever
13125 since. If it once has been saved, it will never be updated by default
13126 even if you change the value of @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
13127 afterward. Therefore, the server @code{"archive"} doesn't necessarily
13128 mean the @code{nnfolder} server like this at all times. If you want the
13129 saved method to reflect always the value of
13130 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, set the
13131 @code{gnus-update-message-archive-method} variable to a non-@code{nil}
13132 value. The default value of this variable is @code{nil}.
13135 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
13136 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
13137 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
13138 directory chosen, you could say something like:
13141 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
13142 '(nnfolder "archive"
13143 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
13144 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
13145 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
13148 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
13150 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
13151 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
13152 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
13154 This variable can be used to do the following:
13158 Messages will be saved in that group.
13160 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
13161 message will not be stored in the select method given by
13162 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
13163 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
13164 has the default value shown above. Then setting
13165 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
13166 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
13167 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
13170 @item a list of strings
13171 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
13173 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
13174 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
13177 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
13182 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
13184 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
13187 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
13189 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
13192 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
13194 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
13195 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
13196 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
13197 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
13200 More complex stuff:
13202 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
13203 '((if (message-news-p)
13208 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
13209 messages in one file per month:
13212 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
13213 '((if (message-news-p)
13215 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
13218 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
13219 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
13221 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
13222 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
13223 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
13224 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
13225 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
13226 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
13227 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
13228 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
13229 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
13230 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
13232 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
13233 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
13234 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
13235 this will disable archiving.
13238 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
13239 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
13240 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
13241 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
13242 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
13245 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
13246 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
13247 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
13250 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
13251 but the latter is the preferred method.
13253 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
13254 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
13255 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
13257 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
13258 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
13259 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
13260 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
13261 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
13262 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
13263 changed in the future.
13268 @node Posting Styles
13269 @section Posting Styles
13270 @cindex posting styles
13273 All them variables, they make my head swim.
13275 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
13276 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
13277 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
13280 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
13281 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
13282 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
13283 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
13284 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
13289 (signature "Peace and happiness")
13290 (organization "What me?"))
13292 (signature "Death to everybody"))
13293 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
13294 (organization "Emacs is it")))
13297 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
13298 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
13299 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
13300 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
13301 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
13302 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
13303 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
13304 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
13306 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
13307 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
13308 If it is the form @code{(header @var{match} @var{regexp})}, then Gnus
13309 will look in the original article for a header whose name is
13310 @var{match} and compare that @var{regexp}. @var{match} and
13311 @var{regexp} are strings. (The original article is the one you are
13312 replying or following up to. If you are not composing a reply or a
13313 followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
13314 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with
13315 no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
13316 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
13317 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is
13318 said to @dfn{match}.
13320 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
13321 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. In
13322 addition, you can also use the @code{(@var{name} :file @var{value})}
13323 form or the @code{(@var{name} :value @var{value})} form. Where
13324 @code{:file} signifies @var{value} represents a file name and its
13325 contents should be used as the attribute value, @code{:value} signifies
13326 @var{value} does not represent a file name explicitly. The attribute
13327 name can be one of:
13330 @item @code{signature}
13331 @item @code{signature-file}
13332 @item @code{x-face-file}
13333 @item @code{address}, overriding @code{user-mail-address}
13334 @item @code{name}, overriding @code{(user-full-name)}
13338 Note that the @code{signature-file} attribute honors the variable
13339 @code{message-signature-directory}.
13341 The attribute name can also be a string or a symbol. In that case,
13342 this will be used as a header name, and the value will be inserted in
13343 the headers of the article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header
13344 name will be removed. If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form
13345 is evaluated, and the result is thrown away.
13347 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
13348 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
13349 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
13350 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
13351 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
13352 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
13353 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
13354 references chars lines xref extra.
13356 @vindex message-reply-headers
13358 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
13359 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
13360 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
13362 @findex message-mail-p
13363 @findex message-news-p
13365 So here's a new example:
13368 (setq gnus-posting-styles
13370 (signature-file "~/.signature")
13372 (x-face-file "~/.xface")
13373 (x-url (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
13374 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
13376 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
13377 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; @r{A form}
13378 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
13379 (message-news-p ;; @r{A function symbol}
13380 (signature my-news-signature))
13381 (window-system ;; @r{A value symbol}
13382 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
13383 ;; @r{If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.}
13384 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
13385 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
13386 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; @r{A user defined function}
13387 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
13388 (address "user@@bar.foo")
13389 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
13390 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
13392 (From (save-excursion
13393 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
13394 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
13396 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
13399 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
13400 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
13401 if you fill many roles.
13402 You may also use @code{message-alternative-emails} instead.
13403 @xref{Message Headers, ,Message Headers, message, Message Manual}.
13409 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
13410 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
13411 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
13412 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
13413 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
13415 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
13416 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
13417 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
13418 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
13419 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
13423 @vindex nndraft-directory
13424 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
13425 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
13426 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
13427 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
13428 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
13429 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
13431 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
13432 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
13433 unsubscribe it. The special properties of the draft group comes from
13434 a group property (@pxref{Group Parameters}), and if lost the group
13435 behaves like any other group. This means the commands below will not
13436 be available. To restore the special properties of the group, the
13437 simplest way is to kill the group, using @kbd{C-k}, and restart
13438 Gnus. The group is automatically created again with the
13439 correct parameters. The content of the group is not lost.
13441 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
13442 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
13443 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
13444 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
13445 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
13446 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
13447 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
13448 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
13449 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
13450 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
13451 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
13452 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
13453 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
13454 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
13456 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
13457 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
13458 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
13460 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
13461 @kindex D e (Draft)
13462 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
13463 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
13464 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
13466 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
13469 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
13470 @kindex D s (Draft)
13471 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
13472 @kindex D S (Draft)
13473 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
13474 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
13475 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
13476 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
13477 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
13480 @findex gnus-draft-toggle-sending
13481 @kindex D t (Draft)
13482 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
13483 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
13484 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
13487 @node Rejected Articles
13488 @section Rejected Articles
13489 @cindex rejected articles
13491 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
13492 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
13493 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
13494 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
13496 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
13497 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
13498 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
13499 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
13500 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
13502 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
13503 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
13504 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
13506 @node Signing and encrypting
13507 @section Signing and encrypting
13509 @cindex using s/mime
13510 @cindex using smime
13512 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla
13513 @acronym{PGP} format or @acronym{PGP/MIME} or @acronym{S/MIME}. For
13514 decoding such messages, see the @code{mm-verify-option} and
13515 @code{mm-decrypt-option} options (@pxref{Security}).
13517 @vindex gnus-message-replysign
13518 @vindex gnus-message-replyencrypt
13519 @vindex gnus-message-replysignencrypted
13520 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
13521 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
13522 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
13523 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
13524 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
13525 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
13526 automatically encrypted messages.
13528 Instructing @acronym{MML} to perform security operations on a
13529 @acronym{MIME} part is done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for
13530 signing and the @kbd{C-c C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
13535 @kindex C-c C-m s s (Message)
13536 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
13538 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
13541 @kindex C-c C-m s o (Message)
13542 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
13544 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP}.
13547 @kindex C-c C-m s p (Message)
13548 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
13550 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
13553 @kindex C-c C-m c s (Message)
13554 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
13556 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
13559 @kindex C-c C-m c o (Message)
13560 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
13562 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP}.
13565 @kindex C-c C-m c p (Message)
13566 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
13568 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
13571 @kindex C-c C-m C-n (Message)
13572 @findex mml-unsecure-message
13573 Remove security related @acronym{MML} tags from message.
13577 @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
13579 @node Select Methods
13580 @chapter Select Methods
13581 @cindex foreign groups
13582 @cindex select methods
13584 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
13585 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
13586 @acronym{NNTP} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
13587 personal mail group.
13589 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
13590 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
13591 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
13592 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
13593 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
13594 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
13596 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
13597 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
13599 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
13602 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @acronym{NNTP} server
13603 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
13604 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
13605 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
13606 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
13608 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
13611 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
13612 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
13613 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
13614 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
13615 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
13616 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
13617 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
13618 * Email Based Diary:: Using mails to manage diary events in Gnus.
13619 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
13623 @node Server Buffer
13624 @section Server Buffer
13626 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
13627 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
13628 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
13629 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
13630 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
13631 back end represents a virtual server.
13633 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
13634 different actual @acronym{NNTP} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
13635 on the same actual @acronym{NNTP} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
13636 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
13638 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
13639 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
13640 @acronym{NNTP} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
13641 hangs if queried for @acronym{NOV} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
13642 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
13643 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
13644 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
13646 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
13647 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
13650 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
13651 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
13652 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
13653 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
13654 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
13655 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
13656 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
13659 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
13660 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
13663 @node Server Buffer Format
13664 @subsection Server Buffer Format
13665 @cindex server buffer format
13667 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
13668 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
13669 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
13670 variable, with some simple extensions:
13675 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
13678 The name of this server.
13681 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
13684 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
13687 Whether this server is agentized.
13690 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
13691 The mode line can also be customized by using the
13692 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
13693 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
13703 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
13706 @node Server Commands
13707 @subsection Server Commands
13708 @cindex server commands
13714 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Server)
13715 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
13716 command or better use it as a prefix key.
13720 @findex gnus-server-add-server
13721 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
13725 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
13726 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
13729 @kindex SPACE (Server)
13730 @findex gnus-server-read-server
13731 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
13735 @findex gnus-server-exit
13736 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
13740 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
13741 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
13745 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
13746 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
13750 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
13751 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
13755 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
13756 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
13760 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
13761 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
13762 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
13767 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
13768 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
13769 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
13770 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
13774 @findex gnus-server-compact-server
13776 Compact all groups in the server under point
13777 (@code{gnus-server-compact-server}). Currently implemented only in
13778 nnml (@pxref{Mail Spool}). This removes gaps between article numbers,
13779 hence getting a correct total article count.
13784 @node Example Methods
13785 @subsection Example Methods
13787 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
13790 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
13793 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
13799 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
13800 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
13803 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
13804 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
13806 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
13807 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
13811 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
13814 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
13815 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
13817 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
13818 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
13819 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
13823 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
13826 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
13829 Here's the method for a public spool:
13833 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
13834 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
13840 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @acronym{NNTP}
13841 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
13842 on the firewall machine and connect with
13843 @uref{http://netcat.sourceforge.net/, netcat} from there to the
13844 @acronym{NNTP} server.
13845 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
13846 should probably look something like this:
13850 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat)
13851 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
13852 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host"))
13855 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
13856 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
13857 configuration to the example above:
13860 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
13863 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}. Here's an example for
13864 an indirect connection:
13867 (setq gnus-select-method
13869 (nntp-address "news.server.example")
13870 (nntp-via-user-name "intermediate_user_name")
13871 (nntp-via-address "intermediate.host.example")
13872 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
13873 (nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches ("-C"))
13874 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat)))
13877 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
13878 provide automatic authorization, of course.
13880 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
13881 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
13882 netcat connection to the news server as follows:
13886 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
13887 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-netcat-stream)
13888 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
13892 @node Creating a Virtual Server
13893 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
13895 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
13896 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
13898 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
13899 would probably be best to use @code{nnml} to read the cache. You
13900 could also use @code{nnspool} or @code{nnmh}, though.
13902 Type @kbd{a nnml RET cache RET}.
13904 You should now have a brand new @code{nnml} virtual server called
13905 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
13906 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
13907 will contain the following:
13917 (nnml-directory "~/News/cache/")
13918 (nnml-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
13921 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
13922 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
13923 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
13926 @node Server Variables
13927 @subsection Server Variables
13928 @cindex server variables
13929 @cindex server parameters
13931 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
13932 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
13933 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
13934 change the ``base'' variable after the variables have been loaded, you
13935 won't change the ``derived'' variables.
13937 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
13938 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
13939 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
13940 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
13941 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
13942 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
13943 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
13944 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
13945 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
13949 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
13950 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
13951 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
13954 Server variables are often called @dfn{server parameters}.
13956 @node Servers and Methods
13957 @subsection Servers and Methods
13959 Wherever you would normally use a select method
13960 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
13961 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
13962 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
13966 @node Unavailable Servers
13967 @subsection Unavailable Servers
13969 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
13970 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
13971 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
13972 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
13973 actually the case or not.
13975 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
13976 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
13977 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
13978 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
13979 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
13980 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
13981 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
13982 it will regard that server as ``down''.
13984 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
13985 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
13987 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
13988 with the following commands:
13994 @findex gnus-server-open-server
13995 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
13996 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
14000 @findex gnus-server-close-server
14001 Close the connection (if any) to the server
14002 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
14006 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
14007 Mark the current server as unreachable
14008 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
14011 @kindex M-o (Server)
14012 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
14013 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
14014 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
14017 @kindex M-c (Server)
14018 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
14019 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
14020 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
14024 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
14025 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
14026 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
14030 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
14031 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
14037 @section Getting News
14038 @cindex reading news
14039 @cindex news back ends
14041 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
14042 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @acronym{NNTP} server,
14043 or it can read from a local spool.
14046 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
14047 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
14055 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @acronym{NNTP} server is rather easy.
14056 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @acronym{NNTP}
14057 server as the, uhm, address.
14059 If the @acronym{NNTP} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
14060 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
14061 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
14062 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14064 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
14065 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
14066 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
14068 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
14073 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
14074 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
14075 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
14077 @cindex authentication
14078 @cindex nntp authentication
14079 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
14080 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
14081 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
14082 commands to the @acronym{NNTP} server after it has been contacted. By
14083 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
14084 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
14085 present in this hook.
14087 @item nntp-authinfo-function
14088 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
14089 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
14090 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
14091 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @acronym{NNTP}
14092 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
14093 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
14094 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
14095 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
14096 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
14097 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
14098 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
14102 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
14105 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
14107 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
14108 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
14109 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
14110 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
14111 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
14112 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
14113 @samp{force} is explained below.
14117 Here's an example file:
14120 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
14121 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
14124 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
14125 have to be first, for instance.
14127 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
14128 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
14129 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
14130 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
14131 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
14132 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
14133 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
14135 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
14136 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
14142 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
14143 previously mentioned.
14145 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
14147 @item nntp-server-action-alist
14148 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
14149 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
14150 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
14151 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
14154 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
14155 '(("innd" (ding))))
14158 You probably don't want to do that, though.
14160 The default value is
14163 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
14164 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
14165 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
14168 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
14169 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
14171 @item nntp-maximum-request
14172 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
14173 If the @acronym{NNTP} server doesn't support @acronym{NOV} headers, this back end
14174 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
14175 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
14176 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
14177 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
14178 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
14180 @item nntp-connection-timeout
14181 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
14182 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
14183 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @acronym{NNTP} servers not
14184 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
14185 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
14186 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
14187 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
14188 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
14189 no timeouts are done.
14191 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
14192 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
14193 If the @acronym{NNTP} server does not support @acronym{NOV}, you could set this
14194 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @acronym{NOV}
14197 @item nntp-xover-commands
14198 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
14199 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
14201 List of strings used as commands to fetch @acronym{NOV} lines from a
14202 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
14206 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
14207 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @acronym{NOV} lines to
14208 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
14209 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
14210 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @acronym{NOV}
14211 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
14212 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
14213 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
14214 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
14215 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
14216 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
14218 @item nntp-xref-number-is-evil
14219 @vindex nntp-xref-number-is-evil
14220 When Gnus refers to an article having the @code{Message-ID} that a user
14221 specifies or having the @code{Message-ID} of the parent article of the
14222 current one (@pxref{Finding the Parent}), Gnus sends a @code{HEAD}
14223 command to the @acronym{NNTP} server to know where it is, and the server
14224 returns the data containing the pairs of a group and an article number
14225 in the @code{Xref} header. Gnus normally uses the article number to
14226 refer to the article if the data shows that that article is in the
14227 current group, while it uses the @code{Message-ID} otherwise. However,
14228 some news servers, e.g., ones running Diablo, run multiple engines
14229 having the same articles but article numbers are not kept synchronized
14230 between them. In that case, the article number that appears in the
14231 @code{Xref} header varies by which engine is chosen, so you cannot refer
14232 to the parent article that is in the current group, for instance. If
14233 you connect to such a server, set this variable to a non-@code{nil}
14234 value, and Gnus never uses article numbers. For example:
14237 (setq gnus-select-method
14239 (nntp-address "newszilla.example.com")
14240 (nntp-xref-number-is-evil t)
14244 The default value of this server variable is @code{nil}.
14246 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
14247 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
14248 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @acronym{NNTP} server.
14250 @item nntp-record-commands
14251 @vindex nntp-record-commands
14252 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
14253 @acronym{NNTP} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
14254 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@acronym{NNTP} connection
14255 that doesn't seem to work.
14257 @item nntp-open-connection-function
14258 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
14259 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
14260 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
14261 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
14262 Seven pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped
14263 in two categories: direct connection functions (four pre-made), and
14264 indirect ones (three pre-made).
14266 @item nntp-never-echoes-commands
14267 @vindex nntp-never-echoes-commands
14268 Non-@code{nil} means the nntp server never echoes commands. It is
14269 reported that some nntps server doesn't echo commands. So, you may want
14270 to set this to non-@code{nil} in the method for such a server setting
14271 @code{nntp-open-connection-function} to @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream} for
14272 example. The default value is @code{nil}. Note that the
14273 @code{nntp-open-connection-functions-never-echo-commands} variable
14274 overrides the @code{nil} value of this variable.
14276 @item nntp-open-connection-functions-never-echo-commands
14277 @vindex nntp-open-connection-functions-never-echo-commands
14278 List of functions that never echo commands. Add or set a function which
14279 you set to @code{nntp-open-connection-function} to this list if it does
14280 not echo commands. Note that a non-@code{nil} value of the
14281 @code{nntp-never-echoes-commands} variable overrides this variable. The
14282 default value is @code{(nntp-open-network-stream)}.
14284 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
14285 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
14286 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
14287 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
14288 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
14289 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
14290 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
14293 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
14296 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
14297 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
14302 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
14303 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
14304 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
14305 * NNTP marks:: Storing marks for @acronym{NNTP} servers.
14309 @node Direct Functions
14310 @subsubsection Direct Functions
14311 @cindex direct connection functions
14313 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
14314 between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server. The behavior of these
14315 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
14316 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
14319 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
14320 @item nntp-open-network-stream
14321 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
14324 @findex nntp-open-tls-stream
14325 @item nntp-open-tls-stream
14326 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
14327 this you must have @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/, GNUTLS}
14328 installed. You then define a server as follows:
14331 ;; @r{"nntps" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
14332 ;; @r{however, @samp{gnutls-cli -p} doesn't like named ports.}
14334 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
14335 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-tls-stream)
14336 (nntp-port-number )
14337 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
14340 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
14341 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
14342 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
14343 this you must have @uref{http://www.openssl.org, OpenSSL} or
14344 @uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL, SSLeay} installed. You
14345 then define a server as follows:
14348 ;; @r{"snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
14349 ;; @r{however, @samp{openssl s_client -port} doesn't like named ports.}
14351 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
14352 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
14353 (nntp-port-number 563)
14354 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
14357 @findex nntp-open-netcat-stream
14358 @item nntp-open-netcat-stream
14359 Opens a connection to an @acronym{NNTP} server using the @code{netcat}
14360 program. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have
14361 the default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
14362 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
14363 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
14364 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
14368 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
14369 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-netcat-stream)
14370 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
14373 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
14374 session, which is not a good idea.
14376 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
14377 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
14378 Like @code{nntp-open-netcat-stream}, but uses @code{telnet} rather than
14379 @code{netcat}. @code{telnet} is a bit less robust because of things
14380 like line-end-conversion, but sometimes netcat is simply
14381 not available. The previous example would turn into:
14385 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
14386 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
14387 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
14388 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
14393 @node Indirect Functions
14394 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
14395 @cindex indirect connection functions
14397 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
14398 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
14399 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
14400 the ``via'' family of connection: they're all prefixed with ``via'' to make
14401 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
14402 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
14405 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat
14406 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat
14407 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then uses @code{netcat} to connect
14408 to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from there. This is useful for instance if
14409 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
14411 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat}-specific variables:
14414 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
14415 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
14416 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
14417 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
14419 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
14420 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
14421 List of strings to be used as the switches to
14422 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
14423 @samp{ssh} for @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}, you may set this to
14424 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections.
14427 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
14428 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
14429 Does essentially the same, but uses @code{telnet} instead of @samp{netcat}
14430 to connect to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from the intermediate host.
14431 @code{telnet} is a bit less robust because of things like
14432 line-end-conversion, but sometimes @code{netcat} is simply not available.
14434 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
14437 @item nntp-telnet-command
14438 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
14439 Command used to connect to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from the
14440 intermediate host. The default is @samp{telnet}.
14442 @item nntp-telnet-switches
14443 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
14444 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
14445 @code{nntp-telnet-command} command. The default is @code{("-8")}.
14447 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
14448 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
14449 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
14450 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
14452 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
14453 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
14454 List of strings to be used as the switches to
14455 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. If you use @samp{ssh}, you may need to set
14456 this to @samp{("-t" "-e" "none")} or @samp{("-C" "-t" "-e" "none")} if
14457 the telnet command requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate
14458 host. The default is @code{nil}.
14461 Note that you may want to change the value for @code{nntp-end-of-line}
14462 to @samp{\n} (@pxref{Common Variables}).
14464 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
14465 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
14466 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
14467 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
14469 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
14472 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
14473 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
14474 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
14477 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
14478 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
14479 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
14480 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
14482 @item nntp-via-user-password
14483 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
14484 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
14486 @item nntp-via-envuser
14487 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
14488 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
14489 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
14490 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
14492 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
14493 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
14494 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
14495 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
14499 Note that you may want to change the value for @code{nntp-end-of-line}
14500 to @samp{\n} (@pxref{Common Variables}).
14504 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
14509 @item nntp-via-user-name
14510 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
14511 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
14513 @item nntp-via-address
14514 @vindex nntp-via-address
14515 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
14520 @node Common Variables
14521 @subsubsection Common Variables
14523 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
14524 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
14525 affected (the values of the following variables will be used as the
14526 default if each virtual @code{nntp} server doesn't specify those server
14527 variables individually).
14531 @item nntp-pre-command
14532 @vindex nntp-pre-command
14533 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native
14534 connection function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream},
14535 @code{nntp-open-tls-stream}, and @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}). This is
14536 where you would put a @samp{SOCKS} wrapper for instance.
14539 @vindex nntp-address
14540 The address of the @acronym{NNTP} server.
14542 @item nntp-port-number
14543 @vindex nntp-port-number
14544 Port number to connect to the @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
14545 @samp{nntp}. If you use @acronym{NNTP} over
14546 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you may want to use integer ports rather
14547 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews} or
14548 @samp{nntps}), because external @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} tools may
14549 not work with named ports.
14551 @item nntp-end-of-line
14552 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
14553 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @acronym{NNTP}
14554 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
14555 using a non native telnet connection function.
14557 @item nntp-netcat-command
14558 @vindex nntp-netcat-command
14559 Command to use when connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server through
14560 @samp{netcat}. This is @emph{not} for an intermediate host. This is
14561 just for the real @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
14564 @item nntp-netcat-switches
14565 @vindex nntp-netcat-switches
14566 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-netcat-command}. The default
14572 @subsubsection NNTP marks
14573 @cindex storing NNTP marks
14575 Gnus stores marks (@pxref{Marking Articles}) for @acronym{NNTP}
14576 servers in marks files. A marks file records what marks you have set
14577 in a group and each file is specific to the corresponding server.
14578 Marks files are stored in @file{~/News/marks}
14579 (@code{nntp-marks-directory}) under a classic hierarchy resembling
14580 that of a news server, for example marks for the group
14581 @samp{gmane.discuss} on the news.gmane.org server will be stored in
14582 the file @file{~/News/marks/news.gmane.org/gmane/discuss/.marks}.
14584 Marks files are useful because you can copy the @file{~/News/marks}
14585 directory (using rsync, scp or whatever) to another Gnus installation,
14586 and it will realize what articles you have read and marked. The data
14587 in @file{~/News/marks} has priority over the same data in
14588 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
14590 Note that marks files are very much server-specific: Gnus remembers
14591 the article numbers so if you don't use the same servers on both
14592 installations things are most likely to break (most @acronym{NNTP}
14593 servers do not use the same article numbers as any other server).
14594 However, if you use servers A, B, C on one installation and servers A,
14595 D, E on the other, you can sync the marks files for A and then you'll
14596 get synchronization for that server between the two installations.
14598 Using @acronym{NNTP} marks can possibly incur a performance penalty so
14599 if Gnus feels sluggish, try setting the @code{nntp-marks-is-evil}
14600 variable to @code{t}. Marks will then be stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
14606 @item nntp-marks-is-evil
14607 @vindex nntp-marks-is-evil
14608 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any marks files. The
14609 default is @code{nil}.
14611 @item nntp-marks-directory
14612 @vindex nntp-marks-directory
14613 The directory where marks for nntp groups will be stored.
14619 @subsection News Spool
14623 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
14624 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
14625 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
14628 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
14629 anything else) as the address.
14631 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
14632 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
14633 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
14634 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
14638 @item nnspool-inews-program
14639 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
14640 Program used to post an article.
14642 @item nnspool-inews-switches
14643 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
14644 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
14646 @item nnspool-spool-directory
14647 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
14648 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
14649 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
14651 @item nnspool-nov-directory
14652 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
14653 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @acronym{NOV} files. This is normally@*
14654 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
14656 @item nnspool-lib-dir
14657 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
14658 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
14660 @item nnspool-active-file
14661 @vindex nnspool-active-file
14662 The name of the active file.
14664 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
14665 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
14666 The name of the group descriptions file.
14668 @item nnspool-history-file
14669 @vindex nnspool-history-file
14670 The name of the news history file.
14672 @item nnspool-active-times-file
14673 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
14674 The name of the active date file.
14676 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
14677 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
14678 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @acronym{NOV} files
14681 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
14682 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
14684 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
14685 relevant portion from the overview file. If @code{nil},
14686 @code{nnspool} will load the entire file into a buffer and process it
14693 @section Getting Mail
14694 @cindex reading mail
14697 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
14701 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
14702 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
14703 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
14704 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
14705 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
14706 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
14707 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
14708 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
14709 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
14710 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
14711 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
14712 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
14713 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
14717 @node Mail in a Newsreader
14718 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
14720 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
14721 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
14722 of a culture shock.
14724 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
14725 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
14727 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
14728 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
14729 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
14730 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
14732 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
14734 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
14735 deleted? How awful!
14737 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
14738 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
14739 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
14740 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @ref{Expiring
14743 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
14744 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
14745 they want to treat a message.
14747 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
14748 via @acronym{SMTP}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
14749 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
14750 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
14751 archived somewhere else.
14753 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
14754 These are transported via @acronym{NNTP}, and are therefore news. But we may need
14755 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
14756 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
14757 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
14759 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
14760 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
14761 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
14763 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
14764 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
14767 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
14768 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
14769 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
14770 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
14771 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
14773 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
14774 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
14775 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
14776 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
14777 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
14778 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
14782 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
14783 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
14785 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
14786 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
14787 and things will happen automatically.
14789 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a ``one file per
14790 mail'' back end), you could put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
14793 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
14796 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
14797 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
14798 directory, which is @file{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
14799 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
14800 like any other group.
14802 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
14805 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14806 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14807 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
14811 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
14812 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
14813 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
14816 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
14817 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
14818 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
14821 @node Splitting Mail
14822 @subsection Splitting Mail
14823 @cindex splitting mail
14824 @cindex mail splitting
14825 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
14827 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
14828 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
14829 to be split into groups.
14832 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14833 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14834 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
14835 ("mail.other" "")))
14838 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
14839 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
14840 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
14841 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
14842 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
14843 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
14844 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
14847 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
14851 In that case, @code{nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded} controls whether
14852 the inserted text should be made lowercase. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
14854 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
14855 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
14856 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
14857 mail belongs in that group.
14859 @cindex @samp{bogus} group
14860 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
14861 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{""} so that it matches any mails
14862 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
14863 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first rule
14864 to make a match will ``win'', unless you have crossposting enabled. In
14865 that case, all matching rules will ``win''.) If no rule matched, the mail
14866 will end up in the @samp{bogus} group. When new groups are created by
14867 splitting mail, you may want to run @code{gnus-group-find-new-groups} to
14868 see the new groups. This also applies to the @samp{bogus} group.
14870 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
14871 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
14872 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
14873 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
14874 thinks should carry this mail message.
14876 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
14877 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
14878 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
14879 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
14881 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
14882 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
14883 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
14884 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
14885 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{""}) group.
14887 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
14890 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
14891 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
14892 links. If that's the case for you, set
14893 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
14894 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
14896 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
14897 @findex nnmail-split-history
14898 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
14899 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
14900 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
14901 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
14904 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
14905 Header lines longer than the value of
14906 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
14909 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
14910 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
14911 By default, splitting does not decode headers, so you can not match on
14912 non-@acronym{ASCII} strings. But it is useful if you want to match
14913 articles based on the raw header data. To enable it, set the
14914 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} variable to a non-@code{nil} value.
14915 In addition, the value of the @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset}
14916 variable is used for decoding non-@acronym{MIME} encoded string when
14917 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} is non-@code{nil}. The default
14918 value is @code{nil} which means not to decode non-@acronym{MIME} encoded
14919 string. A suitable value for you will be @code{undecided} or be the
14920 charset used normally in mails you are interested in.
14922 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
14923 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If you
14924 specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable @code{mail-sources}
14925 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}), however, then splitting does
14926 @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
14927 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-@code{nil} value to make
14928 splitting happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on
14929 other kinds of entries.)
14931 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
14932 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
14933 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
14934 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
14935 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
14936 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
14937 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
14938 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
14939 month's rent money.
14943 @subsection Mail Sources
14945 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from
14946 a @acronym{POP} mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a
14947 maildir, for instance.
14950 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
14951 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
14952 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
14956 @node Mail Source Specifiers
14957 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
14959 @cindex mail server
14962 @cindex mail source
14964 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
14965 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
14970 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
14973 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
14974 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
14975 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
14978 The @code{mail-sources} is global for all mail groups. You can specify
14979 an additional mail source for a particular group by including the
14980 @code{group} mail specifier in @code{mail-sources}, and setting a
14981 @code{mail-source} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) specifying
14982 a single mail source. When this is used, @code{mail-sources} is
14983 typically just @code{(group)}; the @code{mail-source} parameter for a
14984 group might look like this:
14987 (mail-source . (file :path "home/user/spools/foo.spool"))
14990 This means that the group's (and only this group's) messages will be
14991 fetched from the spool file @samp{/user/spools/foo.spool}.
14993 The following mail source types are available:
14997 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
15003 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @env{MAIL}
15004 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
15005 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
15009 Script run before/after fetching mail.
15012 An example file mail source:
15015 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
15018 Or using the default file name:
15024 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best
15025 to use @acronym{POP} or @acronym{IMAP} or the like to fetch the mail.
15026 You can not use ange-ftp file names here---it has no way to lock the
15027 mail spool while moving the mail.
15029 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
15033 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
15036 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
15040 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
15043 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
15045 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
15048 Alter this script to fit the @samp{movemail} and temporary
15049 file you want to use.
15053 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
15054 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
15055 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
15056 That is, there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that
15057 directory and groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool}
15058 will be put in the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix
15059 to be used instead of @code{.spool}.) Setting
15060 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-@code{nil} forces
15061 Gnus to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful
15062 if you want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
15064 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
15065 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
15066 that to a non-@code{nil} value, then the normal splitting process is
15067 applied to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
15073 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
15077 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
15081 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
15082 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
15083 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
15084 predicate are considered.
15088 Script run before/after fetching mail.
15092 An example directory mail source:
15095 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
15100 Get mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
15106 The name of the @acronym{POP} server. The default is taken from the
15107 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
15110 The port number of the @acronym{POP} server. This can be a number (eg,
15111 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
15112 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
15113 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
15114 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
15117 The user name to give to the @acronym{POP} server. The default is the login
15121 The password to give to the @acronym{POP} server. If not specified,
15122 the user is prompted.
15125 The program to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. This
15126 should be a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
15129 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
15132 The valid format specifier characters are:
15136 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
15137 included in this string.
15140 The name of the server.
15143 The port number of the server.
15146 The user name to use.
15149 The password to use.
15152 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
15153 corresponding keywords.
15156 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
15157 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
15160 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
15161 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
15164 The function to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. The
15165 function is called with one parameter---the name of the file where the
15166 mail should be moved to.
15168 @item :authentication
15169 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
15170 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
15175 @vindex pop3-movemail
15176 @vindex pop3-leave-mail-on-server
15177 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
15178 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used. If @code{pop3-leave-mail-on-server}
15179 is non-@code{nil} the mail is to be left on the @acronym{POP} server
15180 after fetching when using @code{pop3-movemail}. Note that POP servers
15181 maintain no state information between sessions, so what the client
15182 believes is there and what is actually there may not match up. If they
15183 do not, then you may get duplicate mails or the whole thing can fall
15184 apart and leave you with a corrupt mailbox.
15186 Here are some examples for getting mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
15187 Fetch from the default @acronym{POP} server, using the default user
15188 name, and default fetcher:
15194 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
15197 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
15198 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
15201 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
15204 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
15208 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
15209 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
15210 contains exactly one mail.
15216 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
15217 taken from the @env{MAILDIR} environment variable or
15220 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
15221 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
15223 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
15224 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
15225 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
15228 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
15229 from locking problems).
15233 Two example maildir mail sources:
15236 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
15237 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
15241 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
15246 Get mail from a @acronym{IMAP} server. If you don't want to use
15247 @acronym{IMAP} as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie
15248 with nnimap), for some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar
15249 to a @acronym{POP} server and fetches articles from a given
15250 @acronym{IMAP} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for more information.
15252 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} and STARTTLS support you
15253 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
15259 The name of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is taken from the
15260 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
15263 The port number of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
15264 @samp{993} for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} connections.
15267 The user name to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is the login
15271 The password to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. If not specified, the user is
15275 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
15276 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
15277 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{tls},
15278 @samp{ssl}, @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
15280 @item :authentication
15281 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
15282 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
15283 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
15284 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
15287 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
15288 mapped into the @code{imap-shell-program} variable. This should be a
15289 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
15295 Make sure nothing is interfering with the output of the program, e.g.,
15296 don't forget to redirect the error output to the void. The valid format
15297 specifier characters are:
15301 The name of the server.
15304 User name from @code{imap-default-user}.
15307 The port number of the server.
15310 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
15311 corresponding keywords.
15314 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
15315 which normally is the mailbox which receives incoming mail.
15318 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
15319 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
15320 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @acronym{IMAP} client and mark some
15321 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
15322 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
15323 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
15326 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
15327 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
15328 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
15329 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
15332 If non-@code{nil}, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the
15333 mailbox after finishing the fetch.
15337 An example @acronym{IMAP} mail source:
15340 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
15342 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
15346 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{http://www.hotmail.com/},
15347 @uref{http://webmail.netscape.com/}, @uref{http://www.netaddress.com/},
15348 @uref{http://mail.yahoo.com/}.
15350 NOTE: Webmail largely depends on cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
15351 required for url "4.0pre.46".
15353 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
15359 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
15360 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
15363 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
15367 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
15371 If non-@code{nil}, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to
15372 trash folder after finishing the fetch.
15376 An example webmail source:
15379 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
15381 :password "secret")
15385 Get the actual mail source from the @code{mail-source} group parameter,
15386 @xref{Group Parameters}.
15391 @item Common Keywords
15392 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
15398 If non-@code{nil}, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you
15399 use directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this
15404 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
15409 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
15410 useful when you use local mail and news.
15415 @subsubsection Function Interface
15417 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
15418 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
15419 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
15420 consider the following mail-source setting:
15423 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
15424 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
15427 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
15428 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
15429 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
15430 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
15431 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
15433 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
15436 @node Mail Source Customization
15437 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
15439 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
15440 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
15444 @item mail-source-crash-box
15445 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
15446 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is@*
15447 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
15450 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
15451 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
15452 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them. If
15453 @code{t}, delete the files immediately, if @code{nil}, never delete any
15454 files. If a positive number, delete files older than number of days
15455 (the deletion will only happen when receiving new mail). You may also
15456 set @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} to @code{nil} and call
15457 @code{mail-source-delete-old-incoming} from a hook or interactively.
15458 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{10} in alpha Gnusae
15459 and @code{2} in released Gnusae. @xref{Gnus Development}.
15461 @item mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
15462 @vindex mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
15463 If non-@code{nil}, ask for confirmation before deleting old incoming
15464 files. This variable only applies when
15465 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is a positive number.
15467 @item mail-source-ignore-errors
15468 @vindex mail-source-ignore-errors
15469 If non-@code{nil}, ignore errors when reading mail from a mail source.
15471 @item mail-source-directory
15472 @vindex mail-source-directory
15473 Directory where incoming mail source files (if any) will be stored. The
15474 default is @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for
15475 is to say where the incoming files will be stored if the variable
15476 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil} or a number.
15478 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
15479 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
15480 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
15481 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
15482 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
15483 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil} or a
15486 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
15487 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
15488 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
15490 @item mail-source-movemail-program
15491 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
15492 If non-@code{nil}, name of program for fetching new mail. If
15493 @code{nil}, @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
15498 @node Fetching Mail
15499 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
15501 @vindex mail-sources
15502 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
15503 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
15504 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
15506 If this variable is @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to
15507 fetch mail by themselves.
15509 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a
15510 @acronym{POP} mail server, you'd say something like:
15515 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
15516 :password "secret")))
15519 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
15523 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
15524 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
15527 :password "secret")))
15531 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
15532 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
15533 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
15534 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
15535 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
15536 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
15540 @node Mail Back End Variables
15541 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
15543 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
15547 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
15548 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
15549 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
15550 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
15552 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
15553 @item nnmail-split-hook
15554 @findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
15555 @cindex RFC 1522 decoding
15556 @cindex RFC 2047 decoding
15557 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
15558 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
15559 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
15560 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
15561 in the buffer will show up in any files.
15562 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
15565 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
15566 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
15567 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
15568 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
15569 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
15570 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
15571 starting to handle the new mail) and
15572 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
15573 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
15574 default file modes the new mail files get:
15577 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
15578 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
15580 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
15581 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
15584 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
15585 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
15586 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
15587 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
15588 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
15589 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
15590 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
15592 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
15593 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
15594 @findex delete-file
15595 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
15597 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
15598 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
15599 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
15600 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
15601 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
15603 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
15604 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
15605 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
15606 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
15607 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
15609 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
15610 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
15611 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
15616 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
15617 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
15618 @cindex mail splitting
15619 @cindex fancy mail splitting
15621 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
15622 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
15623 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
15624 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
15625 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
15626 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
15628 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
15631 ;; @r{Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of}
15632 ;; @r{the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group}
15633 ;; @r{from real errors.}
15634 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
15636 ;; @r{Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant}
15637 ;; @r{groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the}
15638 ;; @r{(ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.}
15639 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
15640 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
15641 ;; @r{Other mailing lists@dots{}}
15642 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
15643 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
15644 ;; @r{Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent}
15645 ;; @r{cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to}
15646 ;; @r{the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the}
15647 ;; @r{message was really cross-posted.}
15648 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
15649 (any "mypackage@@somewhere" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
15650 ;; @r{People@dots{}}
15651 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
15652 ;; @r{Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.}
15656 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a
15657 (possibly) recursive structure where each split may contain other
15658 splits. Here are the possible split syntaxes:
15663 If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name. Normal
15664 regexp match expansion will be done. See below for examples.
15666 @c Don't fold this line.
15667 @item (@var{field} @var{value} [- @var{restrict} [@dots{}] ] @var{split} [@var{invert-partial}])
15668 The split can be a list containing at least three elements. If the
15669 first element @var{field} (a regexp matching a header) contains
15670 @var{value} (also a regexp) then store the message as specified by
15673 If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp) matches some string after
15674 @var{field} and before the end of the matched @var{value}, the
15675 @var{split} is ignored. If none of the @var{restrict} clauses match,
15676 @var{split} is processed.
15678 The last element @var{invert-partial} is optional. If it is
15679 non-@code{nil}, the match-partial-words behavior controlled by the
15680 variable @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} (see below) is
15681 be inverted. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
15683 @item (| @var{split} @dots{})
15684 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{|} (vertical
15685 bar), then process each @var{split} until one of them matches. A
15686 @var{split} is said to match if it will cause the mail message to be
15687 stored in one or more groups.
15689 @item (& @var{split} @dots{})
15690 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{&}, then
15691 process all @var{split}s in the list.
15694 If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save (i.e., delete)
15695 this message. Use with extreme caution.
15697 @item (: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})
15698 If the split is a list, and the first element is @samp{:}, then the
15699 second element will be called as a function with @var{args} given as
15700 arguments. The function should return a @var{split}.
15703 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
15704 body of the messages:
15707 (defun split-on-body ()
15711 (goto-char (point-min))
15712 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
15716 The buffer is narrowed to the header of the message in question when
15717 @var{function} is run. That's why @code{(widen)} needs to be called
15718 after @code{save-excursion} and @code{save-restriction} in the example
15719 above. Also note that with the nnimap backend, message bodies will
15720 not be downloaded by default. You need to set
15721 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
15722 (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}).
15724 @item (! @var{func} @var{split})
15725 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{!}, then
15726 @var{split} will be processed, and @var{func} will be called as a
15727 function with the result of @var{split} as argument. @var{func}
15728 should return a split.
15731 If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
15735 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
15737 Normally, @var{value} in these splits must match a complete @emph{word}
15738 according to the fundamental mode syntax table. In other words, all
15739 @var{value}'s will be implicitly surrounded by @code{\<...\>} markers,
15740 which are word delimiters. Therefore, if you use the following split,
15744 (any "joe" "joemail")
15748 messages sent from @samp{joedavis@@foo.org} will normally not be filed
15749 in @samp{joemail}. If you want to alter this behavior, you can use any
15750 of the following three ways:
15754 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words
15755 You can set the @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} variable
15756 to non-@code{nil} in order to ignore word boundaries and instead the
15757 match becomes more like a grep. This variable controls whether partial
15758 words are matched during fancy splitting. The default value is
15761 Note that it influences all @var{value}'s in your split rules.
15764 @var{value} beginning with @code{.*} ignores word boundaries in front of
15765 a word. Similarly, if @var{value} ends with @code{.*}, word boundaries
15766 in the rear of a word will be ignored. For example, the @var{value}
15767 @code{"@@example\\.com"} does not match @samp{foo@@example.com} but
15768 @code{".*@@example\\.com"} does.
15771 You can set the @var{invert-partial} flag in your split rules of the
15772 @samp{(@var{field} @var{value} @dots{})} types, aforementioned in this
15773 section. If the flag is set, word boundaries on both sides of a word
15774 are ignored even if @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} is
15775 @code{nil}. Contrarily, if the flag is set, word boundaries are not
15776 ignored even if @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} is
15777 non-@code{nil}. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
15780 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
15781 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be Lisp symbols, in that case
15782 they are expanded as specified by the variable
15783 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells,
15784 where the @sc{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @sc{cdr}
15785 contains the associated value. Predefined entries in
15786 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist} include:
15790 Matches the @samp{From}, @samp{Sender} and @samp{Resent-From} fields.
15792 Matches the @samp{To}, @samp{Cc}, @samp{Apparently-To},
15793 @samp{Resent-To} and @samp{Resent-Cc} fields.
15795 Is the union of the @code{from} and @code{to} entries.
15798 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
15799 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
15800 when all this splitting is performed.
15802 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
15803 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
15804 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
15807 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
15810 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
15811 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
15813 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
15814 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
15815 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
15816 groupings 1 through 9.
15818 @vindex nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded
15819 Where @code{nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded} controls whether the
15820 lowercase of the matched string should be used for the substitution.
15821 Setting it as non-@code{nil} is useful to avoid the creation of multiple
15822 groups when users send to an address using different case
15823 (i.e. mailing-list@@domain vs Mailing-List@@Domain). The default value
15826 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
15827 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
15828 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
15829 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
15830 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
15831 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
15832 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
15833 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
15834 it once per thread.
15836 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates}
15837 and @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-@code{nil}
15838 value. And then you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}
15839 using the colon feature, like so:
15841 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; @r{or @code{delete}}
15842 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
15844 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
15845 ;; @r{other splits go here}
15849 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
15850 non-@code{nil}, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees
15851 in the file specified by the variable
15852 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, together with the group it is in
15853 (the group is omitted for non-mail messages). When mail splitting is
15854 invoked, the function @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks
15855 at the References (and In-Reply-To) header of each message to split
15856 and searches the file specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}
15857 for the message ids. When it has found a parent, it returns the
15858 corresponding group name unless the group name matches the regexp
15859 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is
15860 recommended that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a
15861 somewhat higher number than the default so that the message ids are
15862 still in the cache. (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some
15863 300 kBytes in size.)
15864 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
15865 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
15866 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
15867 messages goes into the new group.
15869 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
15870 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
15871 outgoing messages are written to an ``outgoing'' group, you could set
15872 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
15873 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
15874 ``outgoing'' group.
15877 @node Group Mail Splitting
15878 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
15879 @cindex mail splitting
15880 @cindex group mail splitting
15882 @findex gnus-group-split
15883 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
15884 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
15885 You just have to set @code{to-list} and/or @code{to-address} in group
15886 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
15887 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
15888 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
15889 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @code{to-list} or
15890 @code{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
15892 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
15893 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @code{extra-aliases} group
15894 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
15895 rather use a regular expression, set @code{split-regexp}.
15897 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
15898 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
15899 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
15900 @code{to-list}, @code{to-address}, all of @code{extra-aliases} and all
15901 matches of @code{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
15902 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
15903 @code{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
15905 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
15906 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
15907 parameter @code{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
15908 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
15909 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @code{split-spec} may be set to
15910 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
15911 @code{gnus-group-split}.
15913 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
15914 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
15915 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
15916 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
15917 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
15918 some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
15919 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
15920 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
15921 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
15922 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
15923 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
15924 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
15925 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
15927 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
15932 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
15933 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
15935 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
15936 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
15937 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
15938 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
15940 ((split-spec . catch-all))
15943 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
15944 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
15945 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
15948 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
15949 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
15950 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
15954 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
15955 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
15956 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
15960 (: gnus-group-split-fancy @var{groups} @var{no-crosspost} @var{catch-all})
15963 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
15964 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
15965 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
15966 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fall back
15967 fancy split, used like @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
15968 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @code{split-regexp} matches the
15969 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
15970 Otherwise, if some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
15971 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
15973 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
15974 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
15975 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
15976 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
15977 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
15978 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
15979 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
15980 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
15981 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
15983 @findex gnus-group-split-update
15984 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
15985 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
15986 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
15987 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
15988 you. For example, add to your @file{~/.gnus.el}:
15991 (gnus-group-split-setup @var{auto-update} @var{catch-all})
15994 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
15995 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
15996 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
15997 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
15998 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
16001 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
16002 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
16003 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
16004 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
16006 @node Incorporating Old Mail
16007 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
16008 @cindex incorporating old mail
16009 @cindex import old mail
16011 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
16012 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
16013 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
16016 Doing so can be quite easy.
16018 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
16019 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
16020 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
16021 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
16022 your @code{nnml} groups.
16028 Go to the group buffer.
16031 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
16032 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
16035 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
16038 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
16039 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
16042 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
16043 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
16046 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
16047 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
16048 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
16049 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
16050 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
16052 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
16053 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
16054 using the new mail back end.
16057 @node Expiring Mail
16058 @subsection Expiring Mail
16059 @cindex article expiry
16060 @cindex expiring mail
16062 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
16063 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
16064 different approach to mail reading.
16066 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
16067 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
16068 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
16069 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
16070 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
16071 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
16074 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
16075 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default key bindings, this means
16076 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
16077 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
16078 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
16079 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
16080 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
16081 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
16082 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
16084 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
16085 two features, called ``auto-expire'' and ``total-expire'', that can help you
16086 with this. In a nutshell, ``auto-expire'' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
16087 for you when you select an article. And ``total-expire'' means that Gnus
16088 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
16089 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
16090 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
16093 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
16094 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
16095 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
16096 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
16097 into its own group.)
16099 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
16100 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
16101 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
16102 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
16103 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
16104 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
16105 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive
16106 Scoring}). Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
16109 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
16110 Groups that match the regular expression
16111 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
16112 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
16113 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
16115 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
16116 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
16117 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
16118 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
16119 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
16121 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
16123 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
16124 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
16125 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
16128 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
16129 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
16130 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
16131 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
16132 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
16134 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
16135 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
16138 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
16139 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
16142 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
16143 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
16145 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
16146 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
16147 don't really mix very well.
16149 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
16150 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
16151 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
16152 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
16155 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
16156 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
16157 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
16158 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
16161 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
16163 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
16165 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
16167 ((string= group "mail.junk")
16169 ((string= group "important")
16175 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
16176 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
16178 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
16179 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
16180 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
16183 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
16184 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
16186 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
16187 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
16188 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
16189 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
16190 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
16191 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
16192 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
16193 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
16194 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
16195 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
16196 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
16197 from as its parameter) which should return a target---either a group
16198 name or @code{delete}.
16200 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
16202 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
16205 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
16206 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
16207 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
16208 expire mail to groups according to the variable
16209 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
16212 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
16213 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
16214 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
16215 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
16216 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
16219 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
16220 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
16221 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
16222 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
16223 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
16224 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
16226 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
16227 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
16228 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
16229 easier for procmail users.
16231 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
16232 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
16233 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
16234 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
16235 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
16236 caution. Even more dangerous is the
16237 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
16238 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
16239 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
16240 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
16241 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
16242 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
16243 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
16246 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
16248 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
16249 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
16250 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
16251 auto-expire turned on.
16255 @subsection Washing Mail
16256 @cindex mail washing
16257 @cindex list server brain damage
16258 @cindex incoming mail treatment
16260 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
16261 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
16262 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
16263 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
16264 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
16265 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
16267 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
16268 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
16269 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
16272 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
16273 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
16274 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
16275 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
16278 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
16279 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
16280 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
16281 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
16282 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
16285 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
16286 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
16287 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
16288 Emacs running on MS machines.
16292 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
16293 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
16294 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
16295 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
16298 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
16299 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
16300 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
16301 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
16303 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
16304 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
16305 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
16306 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
16307 into a feature by documenting it.)
16309 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
16310 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
16311 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
16312 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
16313 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
16314 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
16315 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
16318 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
16319 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
16322 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
16323 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
16326 This can also be done non-destructively with
16327 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
16329 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
16330 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
16331 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
16333 @item nnmail-ignore-broken-references
16334 @findex nnmail-ignore-broken-references
16335 @c @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
16338 Some mail user agents (e.g. Eudora and Pegasus) produce broken
16339 @code{References} headers, but correct @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This
16340 function will get rid of the @code{References} header if the headers
16341 contain a line matching the regular expression
16342 @code{nnmail-broken-references-mailers}.
16346 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
16347 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
16348 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
16352 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
16353 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
16354 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
16361 @subsection Duplicates
16363 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
16364 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
16365 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
16366 @cindex duplicate mails
16367 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
16368 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
16369 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
16370 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
16371 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
16372 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
16373 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
16374 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
16375 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
16376 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
16377 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
16378 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
16379 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
16381 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
16382 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
16383 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
16384 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
16386 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
16389 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
16390 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
16394 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
16395 '(| ;; @r{Messages duplicates go to a separate group.}
16396 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
16397 ;; @r{Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.}
16398 (any mail "mail.misc")
16399 ;; @r{Other rules.}
16405 (setq nnmail-split-methods
16406 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
16407 ;; @r{Other rules.}
16411 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
16412 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
16413 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
16414 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
16415 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
16418 @node Not Reading Mail
16419 @subsection Not Reading Mail
16421 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
16422 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
16423 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
16425 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
16426 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
16427 mail, which should help.
16429 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
16430 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
16431 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
16432 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
16433 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
16434 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
16435 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old Rmail
16436 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
16437 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
16438 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
16439 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
16441 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
16442 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
16446 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
16447 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
16449 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
16450 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
16451 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
16453 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
16454 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
16455 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
16459 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
16460 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
16461 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
16462 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
16463 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
16464 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
16465 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
16469 @node Unix Mail Box
16470 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
16472 @cindex unix mail box
16474 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
16475 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
16476 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
16477 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
16478 which group it belongs in.
16480 Virtual server settings:
16483 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
16484 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
16485 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
16488 @item nnmbox-active-file
16489 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
16490 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
16491 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
16493 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
16494 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
16495 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
16496 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
16501 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
16505 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
16506 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
16507 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a Babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{Rmail
16508 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
16509 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
16511 Virtual server settings:
16514 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
16515 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
16516 The name of the Rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
16518 @item nnbabyl-active-file
16519 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
16520 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
16521 @file{~/.rmail-active}
16523 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
16524 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
16525 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
16531 @subsubsection Mail Spool
16533 @cindex mail @acronym{NOV} spool
16535 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
16536 format. It should be used with some caution.
16538 @vindex nnml-directory
16539 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
16540 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
16541 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
16542 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
16544 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
16547 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
16548 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
16549 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
16550 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
16551 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
16552 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
16553 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
16554 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
16556 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
16557 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
16558 @acronym{NOV} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
16559 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
16561 @cindex self contained nnml servers
16563 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
16564 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
16565 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
16566 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
16567 for a group are usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
16568 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
16569 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
16570 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
16573 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
16574 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
16575 them next time it starts.
16577 Virtual server settings:
16580 @item nnml-directory
16581 @vindex nnml-directory
16582 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory. The
16583 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default value
16586 @item nnml-active-file
16587 @vindex nnml-active-file
16588 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
16589 @file{~/Mail/active}.
16591 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
16592 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
16593 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
16594 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}.
16596 @item nnml-get-new-mail
16597 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
16598 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
16601 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
16602 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
16603 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
16604 default is @code{nil}.
16606 @item nnml-nov-file-name
16607 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
16608 The name of the @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
16610 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
16611 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
16612 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
16614 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
16615 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
16616 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
16617 default is @code{nil}.
16619 @item nnml-marks-file-name
16620 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
16621 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
16623 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
16624 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
16625 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
16626 files. This requires @code{auto-compression-mode} to be enabled
16627 (@pxref{Compressed Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
16628 If the value of @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is a string, it is used
16629 as the file extension specifying the compression program. You can set it
16630 to @samp{.bz2} if your Emacs supports it. A value of @code{t} is
16631 equivalent to @samp{.gz}.
16633 @item nnml-compressed-files-size-threshold
16634 @vindex nnml-compressed-files-size-threshold
16635 Default size threshold for compressed message files. Message files with
16636 bodies larger than that many characters will be automatically compressed
16637 if @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil}.
16641 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
16642 If your @code{nnml} groups and @acronym{NOV} files get totally out of
16643 whack, you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
16644 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
16645 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
16646 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
16647 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
16652 @subsubsection MH Spool
16654 @cindex mh-e mail spool
16656 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
16657 @acronym{NOV} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks
16658 file. This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than
16659 @code{nnml}, but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts
16662 Virtual server settings:
16665 @item nnmh-directory
16666 @vindex nnmh-directory
16667 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
16668 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
16671 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
16672 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
16673 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
16677 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
16678 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
16679 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks
16680 they are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
16681 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
16682 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not
16683 have to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
16688 @subsubsection Maildir
16692 @code{nnmaildir} stores mail in the maildir format, with each maildir
16693 corresponding to a group in Gnus. This format is documented here:
16694 @uref{http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html} and here:
16695 @uref{http://www.qmail.org/man/man5/maildir.html}. @code{nnmaildir}
16696 also stores extra information in the @file{.nnmaildir/} directory
16699 Maildir format was designed to allow concurrent deliveries and
16700 reading, without needing locks. With other back ends, you would have
16701 your mail delivered to a spool of some kind, and then you would
16702 configure Gnus to split mail from that spool into your groups. You
16703 can still do that with @code{nnmaildir}, but the more common
16704 configuration is to have your mail delivered directly to the maildirs
16705 that appear as group in Gnus.
16707 @code{nnmaildir} is designed to be perfectly reliable: @kbd{C-g} will
16708 never corrupt its data in memory, and @code{SIGKILL} will never
16709 corrupt its data in the filesystem.
16711 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks and @acronym{NOV} data in each
16712 maildir. So you can copy a whole maildir from one Gnus setup to
16713 another, and you will keep your marks.
16715 Virtual server settings:
16719 For each of your @code{nnmaildir} servers (it's very unlikely that
16720 you'd need more than one), you need to create a directory and populate
16721 it with maildirs or symlinks to maildirs (and nothing else; do not
16722 choose a directory already used for other purposes). Each maildir
16723 will be represented in Gnus as a newsgroup on that server; the
16724 filename of the symlink will be the name of the group. Any filenames
16725 in the directory starting with @samp{.} are ignored. The directory is
16726 scanned when you first start Gnus, and each time you type @kbd{g} in
16727 the group buffer; if any maildirs have been removed or added,
16728 @code{nnmaildir} notices at these times.
16730 The value of the @code{directory} parameter should be a Lisp form
16731 which is processed by @code{eval} and @code{expand-file-name} to get
16732 the path of the directory for this server. The form is @code{eval}ed
16733 only when the server is opened; the resulting string is used until the
16734 server is closed. (If you don't know about forms and @code{eval},
16735 don't worry---a simple string will work.) This parameter is not
16736 optional; you must specify it. I don't recommend using
16737 @code{"~/Mail"} or a subdirectory of it; several other parts of Gnus
16738 use that directory by default for various things, and may get confused
16739 if @code{nnmaildir} uses it too. @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} is a typical
16742 @item target-prefix
16743 This should be a Lisp form which is processed by @code{eval} and
16744 @code{expand-file-name}. The form is @code{eval}ed only when the
16745 server is opened; the resulting string is used until the server is
16748 When you create a group on an @code{nnmaildir} server, the maildir is
16749 created with @code{target-prefix} prepended to its name, and a symlink
16750 pointing to that maildir is created, named with the plain group name.
16751 So if @code{directory} is @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} and
16752 @code{target-prefix} is @code{"../maildirs/"}, then when you create
16753 the group @code{foo}, @code{nnmaildir} will create
16754 @file{~/.nnmaildir/../maildirs/foo} as a maildir, and will create
16755 @file{~/.nnmaildir/foo} as a symlink pointing to
16756 @file{../maildirs/foo}.
16758 You can set @code{target-prefix} to a string without any slashes to
16759 create both maildirs and symlinks in the same @code{directory}; in
16760 this case, any maildirs found in @code{directory} whose names start
16761 with @code{target-prefix} will not be listed as groups (but the
16762 symlinks pointing to them will be).
16764 As a special case, if @code{target-prefix} is @code{""} (the default),
16765 then when you create a group, the maildir will be created in
16766 @code{directory} without a corresponding symlink. Beware that you
16767 cannot use @code{gnus-group-delete-group} on such groups without the
16768 @code{force} argument.
16770 @item directory-files
16771 This should be a function with the same interface as
16772 @code{directory-files} (such as @code{directory-files} itself). It is
16773 used to scan the server's @code{directory} for maildirs. This
16774 parameter is optional; the default is
16775 @code{nnheader-directory-files-safe} if
16776 @code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is @code{nil}, and
16777 @code{directory-files} otherwise.
16778 (@code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is checked only once when the
16779 server is opened; if you want to check it each time the directory is
16780 scanned, you'll have to provide your own function that does that.)
16783 If non-@code{nil}, then after scanning for new mail in the group
16784 maildirs themselves as usual, this server will also incorporate mail
16785 the conventional Gnus way, from @code{mail-sources} according to
16786 @code{nnmail-split-methods} or @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. The default
16787 value is @code{nil}.
16789 Do @emph{not} use the same maildir both in @code{mail-sources} and as
16790 an @code{nnmaildir} group. The results might happen to be useful, but
16791 that would be by chance, not by design, and the results might be
16792 different in the future. If your split rules create new groups,
16793 remember to supply a @code{create-directory} server parameter.
16796 @subsubsection Group parameters
16798 @code{nnmaildir} uses several group parameters. It's safe to ignore
16799 all this; the default behavior for @code{nnmaildir} is the same as the
16800 default behavior for other mail back ends: articles are deleted after
16801 one week, etc. Except for the expiry parameters, all this
16802 functionality is unique to @code{nnmaildir}, so you can ignore it if
16803 you're just trying to duplicate the behavior you already have with
16806 If the value of any of these parameters is a vector, the first element
16807 is evaluated as a Lisp form and the result is used, rather than the
16808 original value. If the value is not a vector, the value itself is
16809 evaluated as a Lisp form. (This is why these parameters use names
16810 different from those of other, similar parameters supported by other
16811 back ends: they have different, though similar, meanings.) (For
16812 numbers, strings, @code{nil}, and @code{t}, you can ignore the
16813 @code{eval} business again; for other values, remember to use an extra
16814 quote and wrap the value in a vector when appropriate.)
16818 An integer specifying the minimum age, in seconds, of an article
16819 before it will be expired, or the symbol @code{never} to specify that
16820 articles should never be expired. If this parameter is not set,
16821 @code{nnmaildir} falls back to the usual
16822 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) variables (the
16823 @code{expiry-wait} group parameter overrides @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}
16824 and makes @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} ineffective). If you
16825 wanted a value of 3 days, you could use something like @code{[(* 3 24
16826 60 60)]}; @code{nnmaildir} will evaluate the form and use the result.
16827 An article's age is measured starting from the article file's
16828 modification time. Normally, this is the same as the article's
16829 delivery time, but editing an article makes it younger. Moving an
16830 article (other than via expiry) may also make an article younger.
16833 If this is set to a string such as a full Gnus group name, like
16835 "backend+server.address.string:group.name"
16837 and if it is not the name of the same group that the parameter belongs
16838 to, then articles will be moved to the specified group during expiry
16839 before being deleted. @emph{If this is set to an @code{nnmaildir}
16840 group, the article will be just as old in the destination group as it
16841 was in the source group.} So be careful with @code{expire-age} in the
16842 destination group. If this is set to the name of the same group that
16843 the parameter belongs to, then the article is not expired at all. If
16844 you use the vector form, the first element is evaluated once for each
16845 article. So that form can refer to
16846 @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name}, etc., to decide where to put the
16847 article. @emph{Even if this parameter is not set, @code{nnmaildir}
16848 does not fall back to the @code{expiry-target} group parameter or the
16849 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} variable.}
16852 If this is set to @code{t}, @code{nnmaildir} will treat the articles
16853 in this maildir as read-only. This means: articles are not renamed
16854 from @file{new/} into @file{cur/}; articles are only found in
16855 @file{new/}, not @file{cur/}; articles are never deleted; articles
16856 cannot be edited. @file{new/} is expected to be a symlink to the
16857 @file{new/} directory of another maildir---e.g., a system-wide mailbox
16858 containing a mailing list of common interest. Everything in the
16859 maildir outside @file{new/} is @emph{not} treated as read-only, so for
16860 a shared mailbox, you do still need to set up your own maildir (or
16861 have write permission to the shared mailbox); your maildir just won't
16862 contain extra copies of the articles.
16864 @item directory-files
16865 A function with the same interface as @code{directory-files}. It is
16866 used to scan the directories in the maildir corresponding to this
16867 group to find articles. The default is the function specified by the
16868 server's @code{directory-files} parameter.
16870 @item distrust-Lines:
16871 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmaildir} will always count the lines of an
16872 article, rather than use the @code{Lines:} header field. If
16873 @code{nil}, the header field will be used if present.
16876 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(read expire)]}. Whenever
16877 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
16878 say that all articles have these marks, regardless of whether the
16879 marks stored in the filesystem say so. This is a proof-of-concept
16880 feature that will probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done
16881 in Gnus proper, or abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
16884 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(tick expire)]}. Whenever
16885 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
16886 say that no articles have these marks, regardless of whether the marks
16887 stored in the filesystem say so. @code{never-marks} overrides
16888 @code{always-marks}. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will
16889 probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
16890 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
16892 @item nov-cache-size
16893 An integer specifying the size of the @acronym{NOV} memory cache. To
16894 speed things up, @code{nnmaildir} keeps @acronym{NOV} data in memory
16895 for a limited number of articles in each group. (This is probably not
16896 worthwhile, and will probably be removed in the future.) This
16897 parameter's value is noticed only the first time a group is seen after
16898 the server is opened---i.e., when you first start Gnus, typically.
16899 The @acronym{NOV} cache is never resized until the server is closed
16900 and reopened. The default is an estimate of the number of articles
16901 that would be displayed in the summary buffer: a count of articles
16902 that are either marked with @code{tick} or not marked with
16903 @code{read}, plus a little extra.
16906 @subsubsection Article identification
16907 Articles are stored in the @file{cur/} subdirectory of each maildir.
16908 Each article file is named like @code{uniq:info}, where @code{uniq}
16909 contains no colons. @code{nnmaildir} ignores, but preserves, the
16910 @code{:info} part. (Other maildir readers typically use this part of
16911 the filename to store marks.) The @code{uniq} part uniquely
16912 identifies the article, and is used in various places in the
16913 @file{.nnmaildir/} subdirectory of the maildir to store information
16914 about the corresponding article. The full pathname of an article is
16915 available in the variable @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name} after you
16916 request the article in the summary buffer.
16918 @subsubsection NOV data
16919 An article identified by @code{uniq} has its @acronym{NOV} data (used
16920 to generate lines in the summary buffer) stored in
16921 @code{.nnmaildir/nov/uniq}. There is no
16922 @code{nnmaildir-generate-nov-databases} function. (There isn't much
16923 need for it---an article's @acronym{NOV} data is updated automatically
16924 when the article or @code{nnmail-extra-headers} has changed.) You can
16925 force @code{nnmaildir} to regenerate the @acronym{NOV} data for a
16926 single article simply by deleting the corresponding @acronym{NOV}
16927 file, but @emph{beware}: this will also cause @code{nnmaildir} to
16928 assign a new article number for this article, which may cause trouble
16929 with @code{seen} marks, the Agent, and the cache.
16931 @subsubsection Article marks
16932 An article identified by @code{uniq} is considered to have the mark
16933 @code{flag} when the file @file{.nnmaildir/marks/flag/uniq} exists.
16934 When Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for a group's marks, @code{nnmaildir}
16935 looks for such files and reports the set of marks it finds. When Gnus
16936 asks @code{nnmaildir} to store a new set of marks, @code{nnmaildir}
16937 creates and deletes the corresponding files as needed. (Actually,
16938 rather than create a new file for each mark, it just creates hard
16939 links to @file{.nnmaildir/markfile}, to save inodes.)
16941 You can invent new marks by creating a new directory in
16942 @file{.nnmaildir/marks/}. You can tar up a maildir and remove it from
16943 your server, untar it later, and keep your marks. You can add and
16944 remove marks yourself by creating and deleting mark files. If you do
16945 this while Gnus is running and your @code{nnmaildir} server is open,
16946 it's best to exit all summary buffers for @code{nnmaildir} groups and
16947 type @kbd{s} in the group buffer first, and to type @kbd{g} or
16948 @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer afterwards. Otherwise, Gnus might not
16949 pick up the changes, and might undo them.
16953 @subsubsection Mail Folders
16955 @cindex mbox folders
16956 @cindex mail folders
16958 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a
16959 separate file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format.
16960 @code{nnfolder} will add extra headers to keep track of article
16961 numbers and arrival dates.
16963 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
16965 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
16966 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
16967 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
16968 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
16969 Marks for a group are usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
16970 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
16971 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder}
16972 directory. Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to
16973 backup, use @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup
16974 into the @code{nnfolder} directory).
16976 Virtual server settings:
16979 @item nnfolder-directory
16980 @vindex nnfolder-directory
16981 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this
16982 directory. The default is the value of @code{message-directory}
16983 (whose default is @file{~/Mail})
16985 @item nnfolder-active-file
16986 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
16987 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
16989 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
16990 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
16991 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
16992 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}
16994 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
16995 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
16996 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The
16997 default is @code{t}
16999 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
17000 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
17001 @cindex backup files
17002 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
17003 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If
17004 you wish to switch this off, you could say something like the
17005 following in your @file{.emacs} file:
17008 (defun turn-off-backup ()
17009 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
17011 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
17014 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
17015 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
17016 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
17017 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
17018 extract some information from it before removing it.
17020 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
17021 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
17022 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
17023 default is @code{nil}.
17025 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
17026 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
17027 The extension for @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
17029 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
17030 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
17031 The directory where the @acronym{NOV} files should be stored. If
17032 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
17034 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
17035 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
17036 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
17037 default is @code{nil}.
17039 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
17040 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
17041 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
17043 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
17044 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
17045 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If
17046 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
17051 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
17052 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
17053 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
17054 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
17055 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
17056 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
17059 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
17060 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
17062 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
17063 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
17064 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
17065 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
17066 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
17068 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
17069 typically done by @acronym{NNTP} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
17070 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
17071 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @acronym{NNTP} server), and
17072 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
17073 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
17074 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
17075 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
17078 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
17079 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
17080 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
17081 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
17086 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
17087 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
17088 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
17089 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
17090 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
17091 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
17092 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
17093 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
17094 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
17095 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
17096 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
17097 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
17098 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
17103 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
17104 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
17105 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
17106 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
17107 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
17108 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
17109 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
17110 Rmail was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
17111 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote Rmail
17112 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
17113 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
17114 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
17115 headers/status bits stuff. Rmail itself still exists as well, of
17116 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
17118 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
17119 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
17124 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
17125 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
17126 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
17127 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
17128 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
17129 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
17130 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
17131 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
17132 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
17133 @acronym{NNTP} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
17134 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
17135 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
17136 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
17137 provided by the active file and overviews.
17139 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
17140 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
17141 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
17142 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
17143 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
17146 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
17147 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
17152 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
17153 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
17154 individual files, but with little or no indexing support---@code{nnmh}
17155 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
17156 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
17157 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
17158 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
17162 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
17163 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
17164 itself puts @emph{all} one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
17165 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
17166 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
17167 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
17168 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
17169 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
17170 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
17172 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
17173 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
17174 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
17175 friendly mail back end all over.
17179 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses
17180 incompatible group parameters, slightly different from those of other
17183 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
17184 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
17185 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
17186 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
17187 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
17188 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
17189 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to
17190 @uref{http://www.namesys.com/, ReiserFS} or another non-block-structured
17193 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
17194 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
17195 This means you can skip Gnus' mail splitting if your mail is already
17196 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
17197 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
17198 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
17199 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
17200 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
17201 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
17202 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will not
17203 undergo treatment such as duplicate checking.
17205 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
17206 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
17207 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
17208 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
17209 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
17212 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
17213 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
17214 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
17215 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
17216 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
17217 would) to make it use less memory. This caching will probably be
17218 removed in the future.
17220 Startup is likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than with other
17221 back ends. Everything else is likely to be faster, depending in part
17222 on your file system.
17224 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
17225 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
17230 @node Browsing the Web
17231 @section Browsing the Web
17233 @cindex browsing the web
17237 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
17238 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
17239 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
17240 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
17241 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
17242 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
17243 even know what a news group is.
17245 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
17246 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
17247 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
17248 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
17249 you mad in the end.
17251 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
17254 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
17255 interfaces to these sources.
17259 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
17260 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
17261 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
17262 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
17263 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
17264 * Customizing W3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/W3 from Gnus.
17267 All the web sources require Emacs/W3 and the url library or those
17268 alternatives to work.
17270 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
17271 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @acronym{HTML} data
17272 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
17273 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
17274 though, you should be ok.
17276 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
17277 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
17278 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
17279 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
17280 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
17282 @node Archiving Mail
17283 @subsection Archiving Mail
17284 @cindex archiving mail
17285 @cindex backup of mail
17287 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
17288 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
17289 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
17290 marks is fairly simple.
17292 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
17293 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
17296 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
17297 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
17298 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
17299 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
17300 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
17301 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
17302 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
17303 before you restore the data.
17305 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
17306 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
17307 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
17308 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
17309 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
17310 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
17311 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
17312 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
17313 is unnecessary in that case.
17316 @subsection Web Searches
17321 @cindex Usenet searches
17322 @cindex searching the Usenet
17324 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
17325 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
17326 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
17327 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
17328 searches without having to use a browser.
17330 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
17331 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
17332 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
17333 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
17334 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
17336 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
17337 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
17338 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
17339 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
17340 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
17341 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
17342 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
17343 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
17344 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
17345 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
17348 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
17349 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
17350 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'@^etre} is to
17351 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
17352 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
17353 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
17355 You must have the @code{url} and @code{W3} package or those alternatives
17356 (try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{mm-url} variable group)
17357 installed to be able to use @code{nnweb}.
17359 Virtual server variables:
17364 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
17365 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
17366 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
17369 @vindex nnweb-search
17370 The search string to feed to the search engine.
17372 @item nnweb-max-hits
17373 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
17374 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
17377 @item nnweb-type-definition
17378 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
17379 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
17380 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
17385 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
17389 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
17392 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
17395 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
17399 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
17406 @subsection Slashdot
17410 @uref{http://slashdot.org/, Slashdot} is a popular news site, with
17411 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
17412 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
17414 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
17415 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
17418 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
17419 '((nnslashdot "")))
17422 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
17423 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
17424 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
17425 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
17426 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
17429 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
17430 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
17432 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
17433 comments), some light @acronym{HTML}izations will be performed. In
17434 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
17435 @samp{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @samp{br} added to
17436 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @acronym{HTML}
17437 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
17438 @acronym{HTML} forms.
17440 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
17443 @item nnslashdot-threaded
17444 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
17445 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
17446 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
17447 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
17448 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
17449 but much, much slower than unthreaded.
17451 @item nnslashdot-login-name
17452 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
17453 The login name to use when posting.
17455 @item nnslashdot-password
17456 @vindex nnslashdot-password
17457 The password to use when posting.
17459 @item nnslashdot-directory
17460 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
17461 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
17462 @file{~/News/slashdot/}.
17464 @item nnslashdot-active-url
17465 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
17466 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch the
17467 information on news articles and comments. The default is@*
17468 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
17470 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
17471 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
17472 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch comments.
17474 @item nnslashdot-article-url
17475 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
17476 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch the news
17477 article. The default is
17478 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
17480 @item nnslashdot-threshold
17481 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
17482 The score threshold. The default is -1.
17484 @item nnslashdot-group-number
17485 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
17486 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
17487 updated. The default is 0.
17494 @subsection Ultimate
17496 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
17498 @uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/, The Ultimate Bulletin Board} is
17499 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
17500 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
17501 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
17503 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
17504 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
17505 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @acronym{URL}
17506 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
17507 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
17508 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
17509 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
17511 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
17514 @item nnultimate-directory
17515 @vindex nnultimate-directory
17516 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is@*
17517 @file{~/News/ultimate/}.
17522 @subsection Web Archive
17524 @cindex Web Archive
17526 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
17527 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
17528 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
17529 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
17532 @findex gnus-group-make-warchive-group
17533 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
17534 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
17535 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET @var{an_egroup} RET egroups RET
17536 www.egroups.com RET @var{your@@email.address} RET}. (Substitute the
17537 @var{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
17538 @var{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
17539 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
17541 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
17544 @item nnwarchive-directory
17545 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
17546 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is@*
17547 @file{~/News/warchive/}.
17549 @item nnwarchive-login
17550 @vindex nnwarchive-login
17551 The account name on the web server.
17553 @item nnwarchive-passwd
17554 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
17555 The password for your account on the web server.
17563 Some web sites have an RDF Site Summary (@acronym{RSS}).
17564 @acronym{RSS} is a format for summarizing headlines from news related
17565 sites (such as BBC or CNN). But basically anything list-like can be
17566 presented as an @acronym{RSS} feed: weblogs, changelogs or recent
17567 changes to a wiki (e.g. @url{http://cliki.net/recent-changes.rdf}).
17569 @acronym{RSS} has a quite regular and nice interface, and it's
17570 possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
17572 Note: you had better use Emacs which supports the @code{utf-8} coding
17573 system because @acronym{RSS} uses UTF-8 for encoding non-@acronym{ASCII}
17574 text by default. It is also used by default for non-@acronym{ASCII}
17577 @kindex G R (Group)
17578 Use @kbd{G R} from the group buffer to subscribe to a feed---you will be
17579 prompted for the location, the title and the description of the feed.
17580 The title, which allows any characters, will be used for the group name
17581 and the name of the group data file. The description can be omitted.
17583 An easy way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something like
17584 the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET y}, then
17585 subscribe to groups.
17587 The @code{nnrss} back end saves the group data file in
17588 @code{nnrss-directory} (see below) for each @code{nnrss} group. File
17589 names containing non-@acronym{ASCII} characters will be encoded by the
17590 coding system specified with the @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system}
17591 variable. If it is @code{nil}, in Emacs the coding system defaults to
17592 the value of @code{default-file-name-coding-system}. If you are using
17593 XEmacs and want to use non-@acronym{ASCII} group names, you should set
17594 the value for the @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system} variable properly.
17596 The @code{nnrss} back end generates @samp{multipart/alternative}
17597 @acronym{MIME} articles in which each contains a @samp{text/plain} part
17598 and a @samp{text/html} part.
17601 You can also use the following commands to import and export your
17602 subscriptions from a file in @acronym{OPML} format (Outline Processor
17605 @defun nnrss-opml-import file
17606 Prompt for an @acronym{OPML} file, and subscribe to each feed in the
17610 @defun nnrss-opml-export
17611 Write your current @acronym{RSS} subscriptions to a buffer in
17612 @acronym{OPML} format.
17615 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
17618 @item nnrss-directory
17619 @vindex nnrss-directory
17620 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
17621 @file{~/News/rss/}.
17623 @item nnrss-file-coding-system
17624 @vindex nnrss-file-coding-system
17625 The coding system used when reading and writing the @code{nnrss} groups
17626 data files. The default is the value of
17627 @code{mm-universal-coding-system} (which defaults to @code{emacs-mule}
17628 in Emacs or @code{escape-quoted} in XEmacs).
17630 @item nnrss-ignore-article-fields
17631 @vindex nnrss-ignore-article-fields
17632 Some feeds update constantly article fields during their publications,
17633 e.g. to indicate the number of comments. However, if there is
17634 a difference between the local article and the distant one, the latter
17635 is considered to be new. To avoid this and discard some fields, set this
17636 variable to the list of fields to be ignored. The default is
17637 @code{'(slash:comments)}.
17639 @item nnrss-use-local
17640 @vindex nnrss-use-local
17641 @findex nnrss-generate-download-script
17642 If you set @code{nnrss-use-local} to @code{t}, @code{nnrss} will read
17643 the feeds from local files in @code{nnrss-directory}. You can use
17644 the command @code{nnrss-generate-download-script} to generate a
17645 download script using @command{wget}.
17647 @item nnrss-wash-html-in-text-plain-parts
17648 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{nnrss} renders text in @samp{text/plain}
17649 parts as @acronym{HTML}. The function specified by the
17650 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} variable (@pxref{Display Customization,
17651 ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) will be used
17652 to render text. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default, text will
17653 simply be folded. Leave it @code{nil} if you prefer to see
17654 @samp{text/html} parts.
17657 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
17658 the summary buffer.
17661 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
17662 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
17664 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
17666 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
17667 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
17670 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
17674 (require 'browse-url)
17676 (defun browse-nnrss-url (arg)
17678 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
17681 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
17682 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
17685 (browse-url (cdr url))
17686 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
17687 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
17689 (eval-after-load "gnus"
17690 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
17691 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
17692 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
17695 Even if you have added @samp{text/html} to the
17696 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives} variable (@pxref{Display
17697 Customization, ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
17698 Manual}) since you don't want to see @acronym{HTML} parts, it might be
17699 more useful especially in @code{nnrss} groups to display
17700 @samp{text/html} parts. Here's an example of setting
17701 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives} as a group parameter (@pxref{Group
17702 Parameters}) in order to display @samp{text/html} parts only in
17703 @code{nnrss} groups:
17706 ;; @r{Set the default value of @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}.}
17707 (eval-after-load "gnus-sum"
17709 'gnus-newsgroup-variables
17710 '(mm-discouraged-alternatives
17711 . '("text/html" "image/.*"))))
17713 ;; @r{Display @samp{text/html} parts in @code{nnrss} groups.}
17716 '("\\`nnrss:" (mm-discouraged-alternatives nil)))
17720 @node Customizing W3
17721 @subsection Customizing W3
17727 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/W3 (or those
17728 alternatives) to display web pages. Emacs/W3 is documented in its own
17729 manual, but there are some things that may be more relevant for Gnus
17732 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/W3 follow links
17733 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
17734 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
17737 (eval-after-load "w3"
17739 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
17740 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
17741 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
17742 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
17744 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
17747 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in W3-rendered
17748 @acronym{HTML} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
17755 @cindex @acronym{IMAP}
17757 @acronym{IMAP} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or @dots{}),
17758 think of it as a modernized @acronym{NNTP}. Connecting to a @acronym{IMAP}
17759 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
17760 specify the network address of the server.
17762 @acronym{IMAP} has two properties. First, @acronym{IMAP} can do
17763 everything that @acronym{POP} can, it can hence be viewed as a
17764 @acronym{POP++}. Secondly, @acronym{IMAP} is a mail storage protocol,
17765 similar to @acronym{NNTP} being a news storage protocol---however,
17766 @acronym{IMAP} offers more features than @acronym{NNTP} because news
17767 is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
17769 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a @acronym{POP++}, use an imap
17770 entry in @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from
17771 the @acronym{IMAP} server and store them on the local disk. This is
17772 not the usage described in this section---@xref{Mail Sources}.
17774 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
17775 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
17776 manipulate mails stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server. This is the kind of
17777 usage explained in this section.
17779 A server configuration in @file{~/.gnus.el} with a few @acronym{IMAP}
17780 servers might look something like the following. (Note that for
17781 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you need external programs and libraries,
17785 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
17786 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; @r{no special configuration}
17787 ; @r{perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:}
17789 (nnimap-address "localhost")
17790 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
17791 ; @r{a UW server running on localhost}
17793 (nnimap-server-port 143)
17794 (nnimap-address "localhost")
17795 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
17796 ; @r{anonymous public cyrus server:}
17797 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
17798 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
17799 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
17800 (nnimap-stream network))
17801 ; @r{a ssl server on a non-standard port:}
17803 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
17804 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
17805 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
17808 After defining the new server, you can subscribe to groups on the
17809 server using normal Gnus commands such as @kbd{U} in the Group Buffer
17810 (@pxref{Subscription Commands}) or via the Server Buffer
17811 (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
17813 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
17818 @item nnimap-address
17819 @vindex nnimap-address
17821 The address of the remote @acronym{IMAP} server. Defaults to the virtual
17822 server name if not specified.
17824 @item nnimap-server-port
17825 @vindex nnimap-server-port
17826 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}.
17828 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
17831 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
17832 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
17835 @item nnimap-list-pattern
17836 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
17837 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
17838 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
17839 interested in a few---some servers export your home directory via
17840 @acronym{IMAP}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
17841 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
17843 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
17844 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
17845 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
17848 Example server specification:
17851 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
17852 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
17853 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
17856 @item nnimap-stream
17857 @vindex nnimap-stream
17858 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
17859 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
17860 of @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}. (@acronym{IMAP} over
17861 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is being replaced by STARTTLS, which can
17862 be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
17864 Example server specification:
17867 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
17868 (nnimap-stream ssl))
17871 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
17875 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
17876 @samp{gsasl} or @samp{imtest} program.
17878 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
17880 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
17881 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
17884 @dfn{tls:} Connect through @acronym{TLS}. Requires GNUTLS (the program
17885 @samp{gnutls-cli}).
17887 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through @acronym{SSL}. Requires OpenSSL (the program
17888 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
17890 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @acronym{IMAP} connection.
17892 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
17895 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
17896 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
17897 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
17898 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
17899 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
17900 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
17901 restrictions on @acronym{IMAP} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
17902 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
17903 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
17906 For @acronym{TLS} connection, the @code{gnutls-cli} program from GNUTLS is
17907 needed. It is available from
17908 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/}.
17910 @vindex imap-gssapi-program
17911 This parameter specifies a list of command lines that invoke a GSSAPI
17912 authenticated @acronym{IMAP} stream in a subshell. They are tried
17913 sequentially until a connection is made, or the list has been
17914 exhausted. By default, @samp{gsasl} from GNU SASL, available from
17915 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gsasl/}, and the @samp{imtest}
17916 program from Cyrus IMAPD (see @code{imap-kerberos4-program}), are
17919 @vindex imap-ssl-program
17920 For @acronym{SSL} connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
17921 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
17922 and nnimap support it too---although the most recent versions of
17923 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
17924 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
17925 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
17928 @vindex imap-shell-program
17929 @vindex imap-shell-host
17930 For @acronym{IMAP} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the
17931 variable @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call. Make
17932 sure nothing is interfering with the output of the program, e.g., don't
17933 forget to redirect the error output to the void.
17935 @item nnimap-authenticator
17936 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
17938 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
17939 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
17941 Example server specification:
17944 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
17945 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
17948 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
17952 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
17953 external program @code{gsasl} or @code{imtest}.
17955 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
17958 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
17959 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
17961 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
17963 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
17965 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as ``anonymous'', supplying your email address as password.
17968 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
17970 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
17971 Unlike Parmenides the @acronym{IMAP} designers have decided things that
17972 don't exist actually do exist. More specifically, @acronym{IMAP} has
17973 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
17974 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
17975 nnimap does when you delete an article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
17978 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
17979 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
17980 running in circles yet?
17982 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
17983 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
17986 The possible options are:
17991 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as ``Deleted'' when
17994 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
17995 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @acronym{IMAP} clients
17996 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
17997 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
17999 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
18004 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
18005 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
18007 If non-@code{nil} (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as
18008 well), for other @acronym{IMAP} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
18009 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
18010 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @acronym{IMAP}
18011 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @acronym{IMAP}
18014 Probably the only reason for frobbing this would be if you're trying
18015 enable per-user persistent dormant flags, using something like:
18018 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
18019 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
18020 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
18021 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
18024 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
18025 as ticked for other users.
18027 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
18029 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
18030 @cindex expiring @acronym{IMAP} mail
18032 This variable contain the @acronym{IMAP} search command sent to server when
18033 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
18034 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
18035 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
18037 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
18038 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
18039 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
18040 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
18042 However, if @code{nnimap-search-uids-not-since-is-evil}
18043 is true, this variable has no effect since the search logic
18044 is reversed, as described below.
18046 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
18047 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
18049 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
18050 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
18051 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
18052 @ref{NNTP}. An example of an .authinfo line for an IMAP server, is:
18055 machine students.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis port imap
18058 Note that it should be @code{port imap}, or @code{port 143}, if you
18059 use a @code{nnimap-stream} of @code{tls} or @code{ssl}, even if the
18060 actual port number used is port 993 for secured IMAP. For
18061 convenience, Gnus will accept @code{port imaps} as a synonym of
18064 @item nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
18065 @vindex nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
18067 Unselect mailboxes before looking for new mail in them. Some servers
18068 seem to need this under some circumstances; it was reported that
18071 @item nnimap-nov-is-evil
18072 @vindex nnimap-nov-is-evil
18073 @cindex Courier @acronym{IMAP} server
18074 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
18076 Never generate or use a local @acronym{NOV} database. Defaults to the
18077 value of @code{gnus-agent}.
18079 Using a @acronym{NOV} database usually makes header fetching much
18080 faster, but it uses the @code{UID SEARCH UID} command, which is very
18081 slow on some servers (notably some versions of Courier). Since the Gnus
18082 Agent caches the information in the @acronym{NOV} database without using
18083 the slow command, this variable defaults to true if the Agent is in use,
18084 and false otherwise.
18086 @item nnimap-search-uids-not-since-is-evil
18087 @vindex nnimap-search-uids-not-since-is-evil
18088 @cindex Courier @acronym{IMAP} server
18089 @cindex expiring @acronym{IMAP} mail
18091 Avoid the @code{UID SEARCH UID @var{message numbers} NOT SINCE
18092 @var{date}} command, which is slow on some @acronym{IMAP} servers
18093 (notably, some versions of Courier). Instead, use @code{UID SEARCH SINCE
18094 @var{date}} and prune the list of expirable articles within Gnus.
18096 When Gnus expires your mail (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), it starts with a
18097 list of expirable articles and asks the IMAP server questions like ``Of
18098 these articles, which ones are older than a week?'' While this seems
18099 like a perfectly reasonable question, some IMAP servers take a long time
18100 to answer it, since they seemingly go looking into every old article to
18101 see if it is one of the expirable ones. Curiously, the question ``Of
18102 @emph{all} articles, which ones are newer than a week?'' seems to be
18103 much faster to answer, so setting this variable causes Gnus to ask this
18104 question and figure out the answer to the real question itself.
18106 This problem can really sneak up on you: when you first configure Gnus,
18107 everything works fine, but once you accumulate a couple thousand
18108 messages, you start cursing Gnus for being so slow. On the other hand,
18109 if you get a lot of email within a week, setting this variable will
18110 cause a lot of network traffic between Gnus and the IMAP server.
18112 @item nnimap-logout-timeout
18113 @vindex nnimap-logout-timeout
18115 There is a case where a connection to a @acronym{IMAP} server is unable
18116 to close, when connecting to the server via a certain kind of network,
18117 e.g. @acronym{VPN}. In that case, it will be observed that a connection
18118 between Emacs and the local network looks alive even if the server has
18119 closed a connection for some reason (typically, a timeout).
18120 Consequently, Emacs continues waiting for a response from the server for
18121 the @code{LOGOUT} command that Emacs sent, or hangs in other words. If
18122 you are in such a network, setting this variable to a number of seconds
18123 will be helpful. If it is set, a hung connection will be closed
18124 forcibly, after this number of seconds from the time Emacs sends the
18125 @code{LOGOUT} command. It should not be too small value but too large
18126 value will be inconvenient too. Perhaps the value 1.0 will be a good
18127 candidate but it might be worth trying some other values.
18129 Example server specification:
18132 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
18133 (nnimap-logout-timeout 1.0))
18139 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
18140 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
18141 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
18142 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
18143 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
18144 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
18149 @node Splitting in IMAP
18150 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
18151 @cindex splitting imap mail
18153 Splitting is something Gnus users have loved and used for years, and now
18154 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
18155 @acronym{IMAP} servers have server side splitting and those that have
18156 splitting seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that
18157 @acronym{IMAP} support for Gnus has to do its own splitting.
18161 (Incidentally, people seem to have been dreaming on, and Sieve has
18162 gaining a market share and is supported by several IMAP servers.
18163 Fortunately, Gnus support it too, @xref{Sieve Commands}.)
18165 Here are the variables of interest:
18169 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
18170 @cindex splitting, crosspost
18172 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
18174 If non-@code{nil}, do crossposting if several split methods match the
18175 mail. If @code{nil}, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule}
18176 found will be used.
18178 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
18180 @item nnimap-split-inbox
18181 @cindex splitting, inbox
18183 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
18185 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @acronym{IMAP}
18186 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to @code{nil}, which means that
18187 splitting is disabled!
18190 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
18191 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
18194 No nnmail equivalent.
18196 @item nnimap-split-rule
18197 @cindex splitting, rules
18198 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
18200 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
18203 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
18204 sublist gives the name of the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox to move articles
18205 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
18206 Neither did I, we need examples.
18209 (setq nnimap-split-rule
18211 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
18212 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
18213 ("INBOX.private" "")))
18216 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
18217 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
18218 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
18220 The first string may contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by
18221 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
18225 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
18228 The first element can also be the symbol @code{junk} to indicate that
18229 matching messages should simply be deleted. Use with care.
18231 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
18232 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
18233 containing the headers of the article. It should return a
18234 non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
18236 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
18237 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
18238 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
18239 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
18240 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
18241 them every time you fetch new mail.)
18243 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
18244 end. The first rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have
18245 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.
18247 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
18248 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
18249 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
18251 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
18253 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
18254 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
18255 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
18258 (setq nnimap-split-rule
18259 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
18260 ("junk" "From:.*Simon"))))
18261 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
18262 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
18263 ("junk" my-junk-func))))))
18266 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
18267 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
18268 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
18269 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
18270 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
18271 group/function elements.
18273 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
18275 @item nnimap-split-predicate
18277 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
18279 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
18280 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
18282 This might be useful if you use another @acronym{IMAP} client to read mail in
18283 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
18284 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
18287 @item nnimap-split-fancy
18288 @cindex splitting, fancy
18289 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
18290 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
18292 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
18293 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
18294 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
18296 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
18297 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
18298 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
18299 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
18304 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
18305 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
18308 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
18310 @item nnimap-split-download-body
18311 @findex nnimap-split-download-body
18312 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
18314 Set to non-@code{nil} to download entire articles during splitting.
18315 This is generally not required, and will slow things down
18316 considerably. You may need it if you want to use an advanced
18317 splitting function that analyzes the body to split the article.
18321 @node Expiring in IMAP
18322 @subsection Expiring in IMAP
18323 @cindex expiring @acronym{IMAP} mail
18325 Even though @code{nnimap} is not a proper @code{nnmail} derived back
18326 end, it supports most features in regular expiring (@pxref{Expiring
18327 Mail}). Unlike splitting in @acronym{IMAP} (@pxref{Splitting in
18328 IMAP}) it does not clone the @code{nnmail} variables (i.e., creating
18329 @var{nnimap-expiry-wait}) but reuse the @code{nnmail} variables. What
18330 follows below are the variables used by the @code{nnimap} expiry
18333 A note on how the expire mark is stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server is
18334 appropriate here as well. The expire mark is translated into a
18335 @code{imap} client specific mark, @code{gnus-expire}, and stored on the
18336 message. This means that likely only Gnus will understand and treat
18337 the @code{gnus-expire} mark properly, although other clients may allow
18338 you to view client specific flags on the message. It also means that
18339 your server must support permanent storage of client specific flags on
18340 messages. Most do, fortunately.
18342 If expiring @acronym{IMAP} mail seems very slow, try setting the server
18343 variable @code{nnimap-search-uids-not-since-is-evil}.
18347 @item nnmail-expiry-wait
18348 @item nnmail-expiry-wait-function
18350 These variables are fully supported. The expire value can be a
18351 number, the symbol @code{immediate} or @code{never}.
18353 @item nnmail-expiry-target
18355 This variable is supported, and internally implemented by calling the
18356 @code{nnmail} functions that handle this. It contains an optimization
18357 that if the destination is a @acronym{IMAP} group on the same server, the
18358 article is copied instead of appended (that is, uploaded again).
18362 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
18363 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
18364 @cindex editing imap acls
18365 @cindex Access Control Lists
18366 @cindex Editing @acronym{IMAP} ACLs
18367 @kindex G l (Group)
18368 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
18370 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @acronym{IMAP} for
18371 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
18372 @acronym{IMAP} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
18375 To edit an ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
18376 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with an ACL
18377 editing window with detailed instructions.
18379 Some possible uses:
18383 Giving ``anyone'' the ``lrs'' rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
18384 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
18385 follow the list without subscribing to it.
18387 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
18388 ``anyone'' posting ("p") capabilities to have ``plussing'' work (that is,
18389 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox
18393 @node Expunging mailboxes
18394 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
18398 @cindex manual expunging
18399 @kindex G x (Group)
18400 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
18402 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
18403 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
18404 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
18406 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
18409 @node A note on namespaces
18410 @subsection A note on namespaces
18411 @cindex IMAP namespace
18414 The @acronym{IMAP} protocol has a concept called namespaces, described
18415 by the following text in the RFC2060:
18418 5.1.2. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention
18420 By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
18421 which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
18422 the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
18423 types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
18425 For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
18426 newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the USENET
18427 newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes. Thus, the
18428 comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have an mailbox name of
18429 "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name "comp.mail.misc" could refer
18430 to a different object (e.g. a user's private mailbox).
18433 While there is nothing in this text that warrants concern for the
18434 @acronym{IMAP} implementation in Gnus, some servers use namespace
18435 prefixes in a way that does not work with how Gnus uses mailbox names.
18437 Specifically, University of Washington's @acronym{IMAP} server uses
18438 mailbox names like @code{#driver.mbx/read-mail} which are valid only
18439 in the @sc{create} and @sc{append} commands. After the mailbox is
18440 created (or a messages is appended to a mailbox), it must be accessed
18441 without the namespace prefix, i.e. @code{read-mail}. Since Gnus do
18442 not make it possible for the user to guarantee that user entered
18443 mailbox names will only be used with the CREATE and APPEND commands,
18444 you should simply not use the namespace prefixed mailbox names in
18447 See the UoW IMAPD documentation for the @code{#driver.*/} prefix
18448 for more information on how to use the prefixes. They are a power
18449 tool and should be used only if you are sure what the effects are.
18451 @node Debugging IMAP
18452 @subsection Debugging IMAP
18453 @cindex IMAP debugging
18454 @cindex protocol dump (IMAP)
18456 @acronym{IMAP} is a complex protocol, more so than @acronym{NNTP} or
18457 @acronym{POP3}. Implementation bugs are not unlikely, and we do our
18458 best to fix them right away. If you encounter odd behavior, chances
18459 are that either the server or Gnus is buggy.
18461 If you are familiar with network protocols in general, you will
18462 probably be able to extract some clues from the protocol dump of the
18463 exchanges between Gnus and the server. Even if you are not familiar
18464 with network protocols, when you include the protocol dump in
18465 @acronym{IMAP}-related bug reports you are helping us with data
18466 critical to solving the problem. Therefore, we strongly encourage you
18467 to include the protocol dump when reporting IMAP bugs in Gnus.
18471 Because the protocol dump, when enabled, generates lots of data, it is
18472 disabled by default. You can enable it by setting @code{imap-log} as
18479 This instructs the @code{imap.el} package to log any exchanges with
18480 the server. The log is stored in the buffer @samp{*imap-log*}. Look
18481 for error messages, which sometimes are tagged with the keyword
18482 @code{BAD}---but when submitting a bug, make sure to include all the
18485 @node Other Sources
18486 @section Other Sources
18488 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
18489 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
18493 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
18494 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
18495 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
18496 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
18497 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
18501 @node Directory Groups
18502 @subsection Directory Groups
18504 @cindex directory groups
18506 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
18507 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
18510 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
18511 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
18512 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
18513 back end to read directories. Big deal.
18515 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
18516 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
18517 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
18518 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
18519 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
18521 @code{nndir} will use @acronym{NOV} files if they are present.
18523 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
18524 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
18525 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
18526 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
18529 @node Anything Groups
18530 @subsection Anything Groups
18533 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
18534 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
18535 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
18538 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
18539 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
18540 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
18541 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
18542 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
18543 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
18544 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
18545 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
18546 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
18547 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
18550 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
18551 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
18552 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
18553 in the article buffer, just as usual.
18555 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
18556 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
18557 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
18558 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
18560 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
18561 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
18562 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
18563 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
18564 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
18565 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
18566 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
18567 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
18572 @item nneething-map-file-directory
18573 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
18574 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
18575 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
18577 @item nneething-exclude-files
18578 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
18579 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
18580 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
18582 @item nneething-include-files
18583 @vindex nneething-include-files
18584 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
18585 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
18587 @item nneething-map-file
18588 @vindex nneething-map-file
18589 Name of the map files.
18593 @node Document Groups
18594 @subsection Document Groups
18596 @cindex documentation group
18599 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
18600 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
18606 The Babyl (Rmail) mail box.
18611 The standard Unix mbox file.
18613 @cindex MMDF mail box
18615 The MMDF mail box format.
18618 Several news articles appended into a file.
18620 @cindex rnews batch files
18622 The rnews batch transport format.
18625 Netscape mail boxes.
18628 @acronym{MIME} multipart messages.
18630 @item standard-digest
18631 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
18634 A @acronym{MIME} digest of messages.
18636 @item lanl-gov-announce
18637 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
18639 @cindex forwarded messages
18640 @item rfc822-forward
18641 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
18644 The Outlook mail box.
18647 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
18650 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
18653 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
18656 An RFC934-forwarded message.
18662 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
18665 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
18671 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
18672 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
18673 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
18676 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
18677 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
18678 group. And that's it.
18680 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
18681 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
18682 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
18683 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
18684 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
18685 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
18686 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
18687 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
18688 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
18689 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
18691 Virtual server variables:
18694 @item nndoc-article-type
18695 @vindex nndoc-article-type
18696 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
18697 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
18698 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
18699 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
18700 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
18702 @item nndoc-post-type
18703 @vindex nndoc-post-type
18704 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
18705 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
18710 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
18714 @node Document Server Internals
18715 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
18717 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
18718 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
18719 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
18720 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
18722 First, here's an example document type definition:
18726 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
18727 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
18730 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
18731 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
18732 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
18733 types can be defined with very few settings:
18736 @item first-article
18737 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
18738 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
18741 @item article-begin
18742 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
18743 says what the beginning of each article looks like. To do more
18744 complicated things that cannot be dealt with a simple regexp, you can
18745 use @code{article-begin-function} instead of this.
18747 @item article-begin-function
18748 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the beginning
18749 of each article. This setting overrides @code{article-begin}.
18752 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
18753 article. To do more complicated things that cannot be dealt with a
18754 simple regexp, you can use @code{head-begin-function} instead of this.
18756 @item head-begin-function
18757 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
18758 the article. This setting overrides @code{head-begin}.
18761 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
18762 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
18765 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
18766 to @samp{^\n}. To do more complicated things that cannot be dealt with
18767 a simple regexp, you can use @code{body-begin-function} instead of this.
18769 @item body-begin-function
18770 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
18771 of the article. This setting overrides @code{body-begin}.
18774 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article. To do
18775 more complicated things that cannot be dealt with a simple regexp, you
18776 can use @code{body-end-function} instead of this.
18778 @item body-end-function
18779 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
18780 the article. This setting overrides @code{body-end}.
18783 If present, this should match the beginning of the file. All text
18784 before this regexp will be totally ignored.
18787 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
18788 regexp will be totally ignored.
18792 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
18793 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
18794 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
18795 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
18796 something that's palatable for Gnus:
18799 @item prepare-body-function
18800 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
18801 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
18802 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
18804 @item article-transform-function
18805 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
18806 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
18807 body of the article.
18809 @item generate-head-function
18810 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
18811 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
18812 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
18813 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
18815 @item generate-article-function
18816 If present, this function is called to generate an entire article that
18817 Gnus can understand. It is called with the article number as a
18818 parameter when requesting all articles.
18820 @item dissection-function
18821 If present, this function is called to dissect a document by itself,
18822 overriding @code{first-article}, @code{article-begin},
18823 @code{article-begin-function}, @code{head-begin},
18824 @code{head-begin-function}, @code{head-end}, @code{body-begin},
18825 @code{body-begin-function}, @code{body-end}, @code{body-end-function},
18826 @code{file-begin}, and @code{file-end}.
18830 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
18835 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
18836 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
18837 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
18838 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
18839 (head-end . "^ ?$")
18840 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
18841 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
18842 (subtype digest guess))
18845 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
18846 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
18847 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
18848 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
18849 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
18851 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
18852 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first
18853 is the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says
18854 where in the document type definition alist to put this definition.
18855 The alist is traversed sequentially, and
18856 @code{nndoc-@var{type}-type-p} is called for a given type @var{type}.
18857 So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document is of
18858 @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
18859 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it
18860 is of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
18861 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number
18862 means low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
18870 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
18871 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
18872 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
18874 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
18875 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
18876 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
18879 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
18880 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
18881 that interested in doing things properly.
18883 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
18884 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
18887 First some terminology:
18892 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
18893 get news and/or mail from.
18896 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
18897 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
18900 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
18904 @item message packets
18905 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
18906 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
18907 default, where @var{x} is a number.
18909 @item response packets
18910 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
18911 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
18912 default, where @var{x} is a number.
18922 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
18923 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
18924 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
18925 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
18928 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
18931 You put the packet in your home directory.
18934 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
18935 the native or secondary server.
18938 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
18939 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
18942 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
18946 You transfer this packet to the server.
18949 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
18952 You then repeat until you die.
18956 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
18957 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
18960 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
18961 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
18962 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
18966 @node SOUP Commands
18967 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
18969 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
18973 @kindex G s b (Group)
18974 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
18975 Pack all unread articles in the current group
18976 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
18977 process/prefix convention.
18980 @kindex G s w (Group)
18981 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
18982 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
18985 @kindex G s s (Group)
18986 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
18987 Send all replies from the replies packet
18988 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
18991 @kindex G s p (Group)
18992 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
18993 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
18996 @kindex G s r (Group)
18997 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
18998 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
19001 @kindex O s (Summary)
19002 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
19003 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
19004 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
19005 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
19010 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
19015 @item gnus-soup-directory
19016 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
19017 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
19018 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
19020 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
19021 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
19022 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
19023 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
19025 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
19026 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
19027 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
19028 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
19030 @item gnus-soup-packer
19031 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
19032 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
19033 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
19035 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
19036 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
19037 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
19038 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
19040 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
19041 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
19042 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
19044 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
19045 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
19046 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
19047 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
19053 @subsubsection SOUP Groups
19056 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
19057 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
19058 you can read them at leisure.
19060 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
19064 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
19065 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
19066 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
19067 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
19069 @item nnsoup-directory
19070 @vindex nnsoup-directory
19071 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
19072 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
19074 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
19075 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
19076 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
19077 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/}.
19079 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
19080 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
19081 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
19082 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
19083 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
19085 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
19086 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
19087 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
19088 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
19090 @item nnsoup-active-file
19091 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
19092 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
19093 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
19094 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
19095 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
19097 @item nnsoup-packer
19098 @vindex nnsoup-packer
19099 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
19100 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
19102 @item nnsoup-unpacker
19103 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
19104 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
19105 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
19107 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
19108 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
19109 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
19112 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
19113 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
19114 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
19117 @item nnsoup-always-save
19118 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
19119 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
19125 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
19127 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
19128 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
19129 more for that to happen.
19131 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
19132 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
19133 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
19136 In specific, this is what it does:
19139 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
19140 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
19143 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
19144 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
19145 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
19148 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
19149 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
19150 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
19153 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
19154 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
19155 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
19157 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
19163 @item nngateway-address
19164 @vindex nngateway-address
19165 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
19167 @item nngateway-header-transformation
19168 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
19169 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
19170 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
19171 transformation should be called, and defaults to
19172 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
19173 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
19176 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
19177 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
19178 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
19181 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
19184 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
19187 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
19190 The following pre-defined functions exist:
19192 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
19195 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
19196 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
19197 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
19199 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
19201 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
19202 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
19203 @code{nngateway-address}.
19211 (setq gnus-post-method
19213 "mail2news@@replay.com"
19214 (nngateway-header-transformation
19215 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
19218 So, to use this, simply say something like:
19221 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
19226 @node Combined Groups
19227 @section Combined Groups
19229 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
19233 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
19234 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
19238 @node Virtual Groups
19239 @subsection Virtual Groups
19241 @cindex virtual groups
19242 @cindex merging groups
19244 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
19247 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
19248 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
19249 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
19251 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
19252 regexp to match component groups.
19254 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
19255 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
19256 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
19257 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
19258 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
19259 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
19260 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
19261 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
19263 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
19264 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
19267 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
19270 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
19271 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
19273 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
19274 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
19275 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
19276 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
19279 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
19282 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
19283 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
19284 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
19286 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
19287 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
19288 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
19289 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
19290 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
19292 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
19293 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
19294 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
19296 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
19297 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} variable is non-@code{nil} (which
19298 is the default), @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread
19299 articles when entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil}
19300 and you read articles in a component group after the virtual group has
19301 been activated, the read articles from the component group will show up
19302 when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this effect if you
19303 have two virtual groups that have a component group in common. If
19304 that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}. Or you can
19305 just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before you enter
19306 it---it'll have much the same effect.
19308 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
19309 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
19310 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
19311 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
19312 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
19313 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
19314 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
19316 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
19317 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
19319 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
19320 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
19324 @node Kibozed Groups
19325 @subsection Kibozed Groups
19329 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by the @acronym{OED} as ``grepping through
19330 (parts of) the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will
19331 do this for you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @acronym{NNTP} server
19332 down to a halt with useless requests! Oh happiness!
19334 @kindex G k (Group)
19335 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
19338 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
19339 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
19340 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between
19341 @code{nnkiboze} and @code{nnvirtual} end.
19343 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an
19344 @code{nnkiboze} group must have a score file to say what articles are
19345 to be included in the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
19347 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
19348 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
19349 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
19350 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time.
19351 Lots of time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the
19352 headers from all the articles in all the component groups and run them
19353 through the scoring process to determine if there are any articles in
19354 the groups that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
19356 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
19357 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
19358 @acronym{NNTP} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
19359 Stranger things have happened.
19361 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
19362 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
19364 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
19365 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
19366 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/kiboze/} by default.
19367 One contains the @acronym{NOV} header lines for all the articles in
19368 the group, and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store
19369 information on what groups have been searched through to find
19370 component articles.
19372 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
19373 their @acronym{NOV} lines removed from the @acronym{NOV} file.
19376 @node Email Based Diary
19377 @section Email Based Diary
19379 @cindex email based diary
19382 This section describes a special mail back end called @code{nndiary},
19383 and its companion library @code{gnus-diary}. It is ``special'' in the
19384 sense that it is not meant to be one of the standard alternatives for
19385 reading mail with Gnus. See @ref{Choosing a Mail Back End} for that.
19386 Instead, it is used to treat @emph{some} of your mails in a special way,
19387 namely, as event reminders.
19389 Here is a typical scenario:
19393 You've got a date with Andy Mc Dowell or Bruce Willis (select according
19394 to your sexual preference) in one month. You don't want to forget it.
19396 So you send a ``reminder'' message (actually, a diary one) to yourself.
19398 You forget all about it and keep on getting and reading new mail, as usual.
19400 From time to time, as you type `g' in the group buffer and as the date
19401 is getting closer, the message will pop up again to remind you of your
19402 appointment, just as if it were new and unread.
19404 Read your ``new'' messages, this one included, and start dreaming again
19405 of the night you're gonna have.
19407 Once the date is over (you actually fell asleep just after dinner), the
19408 message will be automatically deleted if it is marked as expirable.
19411 The Gnus Diary back end has the ability to handle regular appointments
19412 (that wouldn't ever be deleted) as well as punctual ones, operates as a
19413 real mail back end and is configurable in many ways. All of this is
19414 explained in the sections below.
19417 * The NNDiary Back End:: Basic setup and usage.
19418 * The Gnus Diary Library:: Utility toolkit on top of nndiary.
19419 * Sending or Not Sending:: A final note on sending diary messages.
19423 @node The NNDiary Back End
19424 @subsection The NNDiary Back End
19426 @cindex the nndiary back end
19428 @code{nndiary} is a back end very similar to @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
19429 Spool}). Actually, it could appear as a mix of @code{nnml} and
19430 @code{nndraft}. If you know @code{nnml}, you're already familiar with
19431 the message storing scheme of @code{nndiary}: one file per message, one
19432 directory per group.
19434 Before anything, there is one requirement to be able to run
19435 @code{nndiary} properly: you @emph{must} use the group timestamp feature
19436 of Gnus. This adds a timestamp to each group's parameters. @ref{Group
19437 Timestamp} to see how it's done.
19440 * Diary Messages:: What makes a message valid for nndiary.
19441 * Running NNDiary:: NNDiary has two modes of operation.
19442 * Customizing NNDiary:: Bells and whistles.
19445 @node Diary Messages
19446 @subsubsection Diary Messages
19447 @cindex nndiary messages
19448 @cindex nndiary mails
19450 @code{nndiary} messages are just normal ones, except for the mandatory
19451 presence of 7 special headers. These headers are of the form
19452 @code{X-Diary-<something>}, @code{<something>} being one of
19453 @code{Minute}, @code{Hour}, @code{Dom}, @code{Month}, @code{Year},
19454 @code{Time-Zone} and @code{Dow}. @code{Dom} means ``Day of Month'', and
19455 @code{dow} means ``Day of Week''. These headers actually behave like
19456 crontab specifications and define the event date(s):
19460 For all headers except the @code{Time-Zone} one, a header value is
19461 either a star (meaning all possible values), or a list of fields
19462 (separated by a comma).
19464 A field is either an integer, or a range.
19466 A range is two integers separated by a dash.
19468 Possible integer values are 0--59 for @code{Minute}, 0--23 for
19469 @code{Hour}, 1--31 for @code{Dom}, 1--12 for @code{Month}, above 1971
19470 for @code{Year} and 0--6 for @code{Dow} (0 meaning Sunday).
19472 As a special case, a star in either @code{Dom} or @code{Dow} doesn't
19473 mean ``all possible values'', but ``use only the other field''. Note
19474 that if both are star'ed, the use of either one gives the same result.
19476 The @code{Time-Zone} header is special in that it can only have one
19477 value (@code{GMT}, for instance). A star doesn't mean ``all possible
19478 values'' (because it makes no sense), but ``the current local time
19479 zone''. Most of the time, you'll be using a star here. However, for a
19480 list of available time zone values, see the variable
19481 @code{nndiary-headers}.
19484 As a concrete example, here are the diary headers to add to your message
19485 for specifying ``Each Monday and each 1st of month, at 12:00, 20:00,
19486 21:00, 22:00, 23:00 and 24:00, from 1999 to 2010'' (I'll let you find
19491 X-Diary-Hour: 12, 20-24
19494 X-Diary-Year: 1999-2010
19496 X-Diary-Time-Zone: *
19499 @node Running NNDiary
19500 @subsubsection Running NNDiary
19501 @cindex running nndiary
19502 @cindex nndiary operation modes
19504 @code{nndiary} has two modes of operation: ``traditional'' (the default)
19505 and ``autonomous''. In traditional mode, @code{nndiary} does not get new
19506 mail by itself. You have to move (@kbd{B m}) or copy (@kbd{B c}) mails
19507 from your primary mail back end to nndiary groups in order to handle them
19508 as diary messages. In autonomous mode, @code{nndiary} retrieves its own
19509 mail and handles it independently from your primary mail back end.
19511 One should note that Gnus is not inherently designed to allow several
19512 ``master'' mail back ends at the same time. However, this does make
19513 sense with @code{nndiary}: you really want to send and receive diary
19514 messages to your diary groups directly. So, @code{nndiary} supports
19515 being sort of a ``second primary mail back end'' (to my knowledge, it is
19516 the only back end offering this feature). However, there is a limitation
19517 (which I hope to fix some day): respooling doesn't work in autonomous
19520 In order to use @code{nndiary} in autonomous mode, you have several
19525 Allow @code{nndiary} to retrieve new mail by itself. Put the following
19526 line in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
19529 (setq nndiary-get-new-mail t)
19532 You must arrange for diary messages (those containing @code{X-Diary-*}
19533 headers) to be split in a private folder @emph{before} Gnus treat them.
19534 Again, this is needed because Gnus cannot (yet ?) properly handle
19535 multiple primary mail back ends. Getting those messages from a separate
19536 source will compensate this misfeature to some extent.
19538 As an example, here's my procmailrc entry to store diary files in
19539 @file{~/.nndiary} (the default @code{nndiary} mail source file):
19548 Once this is done, you might want to customize the following two options
19549 that affect the diary mail retrieval and splitting processes:
19551 @defvar nndiary-mail-sources
19552 This is the diary-specific replacement for the standard
19553 @code{mail-sources} variable. It obeys the same syntax, and defaults to
19554 @code{(file :path "~/.nndiary")}.
19557 @defvar nndiary-split-methods
19558 This is the diary-specific replacement for the standard
19559 @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable. It obeys the same syntax.
19562 Finally, you may add a permanent @code{nndiary} virtual server
19563 (something like @code{(nndiary "diary")} should do) to your
19564 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}.
19566 Hopefully, almost everything (see the TODO section in
19567 @file{nndiary.el}) will work as expected when you restart Gnus: in
19568 autonomous mode, typing @kbd{g} and @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer, will
19569 also get your new diary mails and split them according to your
19570 diary-specific rules, @kbd{F} will find your new diary groups etc.
19572 @node Customizing NNDiary
19573 @subsubsection Customizing NNDiary
19574 @cindex customizing nndiary
19575 @cindex nndiary customization
19577 Now that @code{nndiary} is up and running, it's time to customize it.
19578 The custom group is called @code{nndiary} (no, really ?!). You should
19579 browse it to figure out which options you'd like to tweak. The following
19580 two variables are probably the only ones you will want to change:
19582 @defvar nndiary-reminders
19583 This is the list of times when you want to be reminded of your
19584 appointments (e.g. 3 weeks before, then 2 days before, then 1 hour
19585 before and that's it). Remember that ``being reminded'' means that the
19586 diary message will pop up as brand new and unread again when you get new
19590 @defvar nndiary-week-starts-on-monday
19591 Rather self-explanatory. Otherwise, Sunday is assumed (this is the
19596 @node The Gnus Diary Library
19597 @subsection The Gnus Diary Library
19599 @cindex the gnus diary library
19601 Using @code{nndiary} manually (I mean, writing the headers by hand and
19602 so on) would be rather boring. Fortunately, there is a library called
19603 @code{gnus-diary} written on top of @code{nndiary}, that does many
19604 useful things for you.
19606 In order to use it, add the following line to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
19609 (require 'gnus-diary)
19612 Also, you shouldn't use any @code{gnus-user-format-function-[d|D]}
19613 (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}). @code{gnus-diary} provides both of these
19614 (sorry if you used them before).
19618 * Diary Summary Line Format:: A nicer summary buffer line format.
19619 * Diary Articles Sorting:: A nicer way to sort messages.
19620 * Diary Headers Generation:: Not doing it manually.
19621 * Diary Group Parameters:: Not handling them manually.
19624 @node Diary Summary Line Format
19625 @subsubsection Diary Summary Line Format
19626 @cindex diary summary buffer line
19627 @cindex diary summary line format
19629 Displaying diary messages in standard summary line format (usually
19630 something like @samp{From Joe: Subject}) is pretty useless. Most of
19631 the time, you're the one who wrote the message, and you mostly want to
19632 see the event's date.
19634 @code{gnus-diary} provides two supplemental user formats to be used in
19635 summary line formats. @code{D} corresponds to a formatted time string
19636 for the next occurrence of the event (e.g. ``Sat, Sep 22 01, 12:00''),
19637 while @code{d} corresponds to an approximative remaining time until the
19638 next occurrence of the event (e.g. ``in 6 months, 1 week'').
19640 For example, here's how Joe's birthday is displayed in my
19641 @code{nndiary+diary:birthdays} summary buffer (note that the message is
19642 expirable, but will never be deleted, as it specifies a periodic event):
19645 E Sat, Sep 22 01, 12:00: Joe's birthday (in 6 months, 1 week)
19648 In order to get something like the above, you would normally add the
19649 following line to your diary groups'parameters:
19652 (gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z %uD: %(%s%) (%ud)\n")
19655 However, @code{gnus-diary} does it automatically (@pxref{Diary Group
19656 Parameters}). You can however customize the provided summary line format
19657 with the following user options:
19659 @defvar gnus-diary-summary-line-format
19660 Defines the summary line format used for diary groups (@pxref{Summary
19661 Buffer Lines}). @code{gnus-diary} uses it to automatically update the
19662 diary groups'parameters.
19665 @defvar gnus-diary-time-format
19666 Defines the format to display dates in diary summary buffers. This is
19667 used by the @code{D} user format. See the docstring for details.
19670 @defvar gnus-diary-delay-format-function
19671 Defines the format function to use for displaying delays (remaining
19672 times) in diary summary buffers. This is used by the @code{d} user
19673 format. There are currently built-in functions for English and French;
19674 you can also define your own. See the docstring for details.
19677 @node Diary Articles Sorting
19678 @subsubsection Diary Articles Sorting
19679 @cindex diary articles sorting
19680 @cindex diary summary lines sorting
19681 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule
19682 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-schedule
19683 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-schedule
19685 @code{gnus-diary} provides new sorting functions (@pxref{Sorting the
19686 Summary Buffer} ) called @code{gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule},
19687 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-schedule} and
19688 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-schedule}. These functions let you organize
19689 your diary summary buffers from the closest event to the farthest one.
19691 @code{gnus-diary} automatically installs
19692 @code{gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule} as a menu item in the summary
19693 buffer's ``sort'' menu, and the two others as the primary (hence
19694 default) sorting functions in the group parameters (@pxref{Diary Group
19697 @node Diary Headers Generation
19698 @subsubsection Diary Headers Generation
19699 @cindex diary headers generation
19700 @findex gnus-diary-check-message
19702 @code{gnus-diary} provides a function called
19703 @code{gnus-diary-check-message} to help you handle the @code{X-Diary-*}
19704 headers. This function ensures that the current message contains all the
19705 required diary headers, and prompts you for values or corrections if
19708 This function is hooked into the @code{nndiary} back end, so that
19709 moving or copying an article to a diary group will trigger it
19710 automatically. It is also bound to @kbd{C-c C-f d} in
19711 @code{message-mode} and @code{article-edit-mode} in order to ease the
19712 process of converting a usual mail to a diary one.
19714 This function takes a prefix argument which will force prompting of
19715 all diary headers, regardless of their presence or validity. That way,
19716 you can very easily reschedule an already valid diary message, for
19719 @node Diary Group Parameters
19720 @subsubsection Diary Group Parameters
19721 @cindex diary group parameters
19723 When you create a new diary group, or visit one, @code{gnus-diary}
19724 automatically checks your group parameters and if needed, sets the
19725 summary line format to the diary-specific value, installs the
19726 diary-specific sorting functions, and also adds the different
19727 @code{X-Diary-*} headers to the group's posting-style. It is then easier
19728 to send a diary message, because if you use @kbd{C-u a} or @kbd{C-u m}
19729 on a diary group to prepare a message, these headers will be inserted
19730 automatically (although not filled with proper values yet).
19732 @node Sending or Not Sending
19733 @subsection Sending or Not Sending
19735 Well, assuming you've read all of the above, here are two final notes on
19736 mail sending with @code{nndiary}:
19740 @code{nndiary} is a @emph{real} mail back end. You really send real diary
19741 messsages for real. This means for instance that you can give
19742 appointments to anybody (provided they use Gnus and @code{nndiary}) by
19743 sending the diary message to them as well.
19745 However, since @code{nndiary} also has a @code{request-post} method, you
19746 can also use @kbd{C-u a} instead of @kbd{C-u m} on a diary group and the
19747 message won't actually be sent; just stored locally in the group. This
19748 comes in very handy for private appointments.
19751 @node Gnus Unplugged
19752 @section Gnus Unplugged
19757 @cindex Gnus unplugged
19759 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
19760 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
19761 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
19762 read news. Believe it or not.
19764 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
19765 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
19766 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
19767 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
19768 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
19770 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
19771 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
19772 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
19773 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
19774 reading news on a machine.
19776 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
19777 fact, you don't have to configure anything as the agent is now enabled
19778 by default (@pxref{Agent Variables, gnus-agent}).
19780 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
19783 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
19784 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
19785 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
19786 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
19787 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
19788 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
19789 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
19790 * Agent and flags:: How the Agent maintains flags.
19791 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
19792 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
19793 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
19794 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
19795 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
19796 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
19801 @subsection Agent Basics
19803 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
19805 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
19806 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
19807 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
19808 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
19810 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
19811 connected to the net continuously.
19813 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
19814 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
19816 You know that Gnus gives you all the opportunity you'd ever want for
19817 shooting yourself in the foot. Some people call it flexibility. Gnus
19818 is also customizable to a great extent, which means that the user has a
19819 say on how Gnus behaves. Other newsreaders might unconditionally shoot
19820 you in your foot, but with Gnus, you have a choice!
19822 Gnus is never really in plugged or unplugged state. Rather, it applies
19823 that state to each server individually. This means that some servers
19824 can be plugged while others can be unplugged. Additionally, some
19825 servers can be ignored by the Agent altogether (which means that
19826 they're kinda like plugged always).
19828 So when you unplug the Agent and then wonder why is Gnus opening a
19829 connection to the Net, the next step to do is to look whether all
19830 servers are agentized. If there is an unagentized server, you found
19833 Another thing is the @dfn{offline} state. Sometimes, servers aren't
19834 reachable. When Gnus notices this, it asks you whether you want the
19835 server to be switched to offline state. If you say yes, then the
19836 server will behave somewhat as if it was unplugged, except that Gnus
19837 will ask you whether you want to switch it back online again.
19839 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
19844 @findex gnus-unplugged
19845 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
19846 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
19847 already fetched while in this mode.
19850 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
19851 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
19852 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
19853 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode (@pxref{Mail
19854 Source Specifiers}).
19857 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the
19858 news onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press
19859 @kbd{g} to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J s} to fetch
19860 all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus know which
19861 articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}).
19864 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
19865 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
19866 then you read the news offline.
19869 And then you go to step 2.
19872 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
19878 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
19879 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
19880 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
19881 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
19882 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
19883 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
19884 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} servers in @code{gnus-select-method} and
19885 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
19888 Decide on download policy. It's fairly simple once you decide whether
19889 you are going to use agent categories, topic parameters, and/or group
19890 parameters to implement your policy. If you're new to gnus, it
19891 is probably best to start with a category, @xref{Agent Categories}.
19893 Both topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) and agent categories
19894 (@pxref{Agent Categories}) provide for setting a policy that applies
19895 to multiple groups. Which you use is entirely up to you. Topic
19896 parameters do override categories so, if you mix the two, you'll have
19897 to take that into account. If you have a few groups that deviate from
19898 your policy, you can use group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to
19902 Uhm@dots{} that's it.
19906 @node Agent Categories
19907 @subsection Agent Categories
19909 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
19910 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
19911 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
19912 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
19913 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
19914 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
19915 you're interested in the articles anyway.
19917 One of the more effective methods for controlling what is to be
19918 downloaded is to create a @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all)
19919 groups to this category. Groups that do not belong in any other
19920 category belong to the @code{default} category. Gnus has its own
19921 buffer for creating and managing categories.
19923 If you prefer, you can also use group parameters (@pxref{Group
19924 Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) for an
19925 alternative approach to controlling the agent. The only real
19926 difference is that categories are specific to the agent (so there is
19927 less to learn) while group and topic parameters include the kitchen
19930 Since you can set agent parameters in several different places we have
19931 a rule to decide which source to believe. This rule specifies that
19932 the parameter sources are checked in the following order: group
19933 parameters, topic parameters, agent category, and finally customizable
19934 variables. So you can mix all of these sources to produce a wide range
19935 of behavior, just don't blame me if you don't remember where you put
19939 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
19940 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
19941 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
19945 @node Category Syntax
19946 @subsubsection Category Syntax
19948 A category consists of a name, the list of groups belonging to the
19949 category, and a number of optional parameters that override the
19950 customizable variables. The complete list of agent parameters are
19953 @cindex Agent Parameters
19956 The list of groups that are in this category.
19958 @item agent-predicate
19959 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
19960 are eligible for downloading; and
19963 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
19964 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
19965 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
19967 @item agent-enable-expiration
19968 a boolean indicating whether the agent should expire old articles in
19969 this group. Most groups should be expired to conserve disk space. In
19970 fact, its probably safe to say that the gnus.* hierarchy contains the
19971 only groups that should not be expired.
19973 @item agent-days-until-old
19974 an integer indicating the number of days that the agent should wait
19975 before deciding that a read article is safe to expire.
19977 @item agent-low-score
19978 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-low-score}.
19980 @item agent-high-score
19981 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-high-score}.
19983 @item agent-short-article
19984 an integer that overrides the value of
19985 @code{gnus-agent-short-article}.
19987 @item agent-long-article
19988 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-long-article}.
19990 @item agent-enable-undownloaded-faces
19991 a symbol indicating whether the summary buffer should display
19992 undownloaded articles using the @code{gnus-summary-*-undownloaded-face}
19993 faces. Any symbol other than @code{nil} will enable the use of
19994 undownloaded faces.
19997 The name of a category can not be changed once the category has been
20000 Each category maintains a list of groups that are exclusive members of
20001 that category. The exclusivity rule is automatically enforced, add a
20002 group to a new category and it is automatically removed from its old
20005 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
20006 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
20007 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
20008 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
20010 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
20011 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
20012 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
20014 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
20015 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
20016 operators sprinkled in between.
20018 Perhaps some examples are in order.
20020 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
20021 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
20027 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
20028 short (for some value of ``short'').
20030 Here's a more complex predicate:
20039 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
20040 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
20043 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
20044 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
20045 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
20047 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
20048 you want to do, you can write your own.
20050 When evaluating each of these predicates, the named constant will be
20051 bound to the value determined by calling
20052 @code{gnus-agent-find-parameter} on the appropriate parameter. For
20053 example, gnus-agent-short-article will be bound to
20054 @code{(gnus-agent-find-parameter group 'agent-short-article)}. This
20055 means that you can specify a predicate in your category then tune that
20056 predicate to individual groups.
20060 True if the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
20061 lines; default 100.
20064 True if the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
20065 lines; default 200.
20068 True if the article has a download score less than
20069 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
20072 True if the article has a download score greater than
20073 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
20076 True if the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
20077 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
20078 checksum and sees whether articles match.
20087 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
20088 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
20089 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
20092 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
20093 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
20094 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
20095 something along the lines of the following:
20098 (defun my-article-old-p ()
20099 "Say whether an article is old."
20100 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
20101 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
20104 with the predicate then defined as:
20107 (not my-article-old-p)
20110 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
20111 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
20115 (require 'gnus-agent)
20116 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
20117 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
20118 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
20121 and simply specify your predicate as:
20127 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
20128 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
20129 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
20130 just don't give a damn.
20132 The above predicates apply to @emph{all} the groups which belong to the
20133 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
20134 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
20135 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in its group
20136 parameters like so:
20139 (agent-predicate . short)
20142 This is the group/topic parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
20143 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
20144 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
20146 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
20149 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
20152 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
20153 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
20154 predicate is assumed to be a list.
20157 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
20158 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
20159 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
20160 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
20161 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
20162 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
20164 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
20165 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
20166 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
20167 if it's to be specific to that group.
20169 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
20176 This has the same syntax as a normal Gnus score file except only a
20177 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
20183 Category specification
20187 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
20193 Group/Topic Parameter specification
20196 (agent-score ("from"
20197 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
20202 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
20208 These score files must @emph{only} contain the permitted scoring
20209 keywords stated above.
20215 Category specification
20218 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
20224 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
20228 Group Parameter specification
20231 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
20234 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
20239 Use @code{normal} score files
20241 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
20242 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
20243 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
20244 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
20246 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
20247 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
20248 files for a group, @emph{filtering out} those sections that do not
20249 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
20253 Category Specification
20260 Group Parameter specification
20263 (agent-score . file)
20268 @node Category Buffer
20269 @subsubsection Category Buffer
20271 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
20272 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
20273 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
20275 The following commands are available in this buffer:
20279 @kindex q (Category)
20280 @findex gnus-category-exit
20281 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
20284 @kindex e (Category)
20285 @findex gnus-category-customize-category
20286 Use a customization buffer to set all of the selected category's
20287 parameters at one time (@code{gnus-category-customize-category}).
20290 @kindex k (Category)
20291 @findex gnus-category-kill
20292 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
20295 @kindex c (Category)
20296 @findex gnus-category-copy
20297 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
20300 @kindex a (Category)
20301 @findex gnus-category-add
20302 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
20305 @kindex p (Category)
20306 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
20307 Edit the predicate of the current category
20308 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
20311 @kindex g (Category)
20312 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
20313 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
20314 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
20317 @kindex s (Category)
20318 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
20319 Edit the download score rule of the current category
20320 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
20323 @kindex l (Category)
20324 @findex gnus-category-list
20325 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
20329 @node Category Variables
20330 @subsubsection Category Variables
20333 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
20334 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
20335 Hook run in category buffers.
20337 @item gnus-category-line-format
20338 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
20339 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
20340 Variables}). Valid elements are:
20344 The name of the category.
20347 The number of groups in the category.
20350 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
20351 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
20352 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
20354 @item gnus-agent-short-article
20355 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
20356 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
20358 @item gnus-agent-long-article
20359 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
20360 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
20362 @item gnus-agent-low-score
20363 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
20364 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
20367 @item gnus-agent-high-score
20368 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
20369 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
20372 @item gnus-agent-expire-days
20373 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
20374 The number of days that a @samp{read} article must stay in the agent's
20375 local disk before becoming eligible for expiration (While the name is
20376 the same, this doesn't mean expiring the article on the server. It
20377 just means deleting the local copy of the article). What is also
20378 important to understand is that the counter starts with the time the
20379 article was written to the local disk and not the time the article was
20383 @item gnus-agent-enable-expiration
20384 @vindex gnus-agent-enable-expiration
20385 Determines whether articles in a group are, by default, expired or
20386 retained indefinitely. The default is @code{ENABLE} which means that
20387 you'll have to disable expiration when desired. On the other hand,
20388 you could set this to @code{DISABLE}. In that case, you would then
20389 have to enable expiration in selected groups.
20394 @node Agent Commands
20395 @subsection Agent Commands
20396 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-plugged
20397 @kindex J j (Agent)
20399 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
20400 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
20401 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
20405 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
20406 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
20407 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
20413 @node Group Agent Commands
20414 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
20418 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
20419 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
20420 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
20421 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
20424 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
20425 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
20426 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
20429 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
20430 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
20431 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
20432 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
20435 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
20436 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
20437 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
20438 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
20441 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
20442 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
20443 Add the current group to an Agent category
20444 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
20445 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
20448 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
20449 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
20450 Remove the current group from its category, if any
20451 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
20452 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
20455 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
20456 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
20457 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
20463 @node Summary Agent Commands
20464 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
20468 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
20469 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
20470 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
20473 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
20474 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
20475 Remove the downloading mark from the article
20476 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
20480 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
20481 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
20482 Toggle whether to download the article
20483 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The download mark is @samp{%} by
20487 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
20488 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
20489 Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
20492 @kindex J S (Agent Summary)
20493 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
20494 Download all eligible (@pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
20495 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
20498 @kindex J s (Agent Summary)
20499 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-series
20500 Download all processable articles in this group.
20501 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-series}).
20504 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
20505 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
20506 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
20507 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
20512 @node Server Agent Commands
20513 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
20517 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
20518 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
20519 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
20520 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
20523 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
20524 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
20525 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
20526 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
20531 @node Agent Visuals
20532 @subsection Agent Visuals
20534 If you open a summary while unplugged and, Gnus knows from the group's
20535 active range that there are more articles than the headers currently
20536 stored in the Agent, you may see some articles whose subject looks
20537 something like @samp{[Undownloaded article #####]}. These are
20538 placeholders for the missing headers. Aside from setting a mark,
20539 there is not much that can be done with one of these placeholders.
20540 When Gnus finally gets a chance to fetch the group's headers, the
20541 placeholders will automatically be replaced by the actual headers.
20542 You can configure the summary buffer's maneuvering to skip over the
20543 placeholders if you care (See @code{gnus-auto-goto-ignores}).
20545 While it may be obvious to all, the only headers and articles
20546 available while unplugged are those headers and articles that were
20547 fetched into the Agent while previously plugged. To put it another
20548 way, ``If you forget to fetch something while plugged, you might have a
20549 less than satisfying unplugged session''. For this reason, the Agent
20550 adds two visual effects to your summary buffer. These effects display
20551 the download status of each article so that you always know which
20552 articles will be available when unplugged.
20554 The first visual effect is the @samp{%O} spec. If you customize
20555 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} to include this specifier, you will add
20556 a single character field that indicates an article's download status.
20557 Articles that have been fetched into either the Agent or the Cache,
20558 will display @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} (defaults to @samp{+}). All
20559 other articles will display @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} (defaults to
20560 @samp{-}). If you open a group that has not been agentized, a space
20561 (@samp{ }) will be displayed.
20563 The second visual effect are the undownloaded faces. The faces, there
20564 are three indicating the article's score (low, normal, high), seem to
20565 result in a love/hate response from many Gnus users. The problem is
20566 that the face selection is controlled by a list of condition tests and
20567 face names (See @code{gnus-summary-highlight}). Each condition is
20568 tested in the order in which it appears in the list so early
20569 conditions have precedence over later conditions. All of this means
20570 that, if you tick an undownloaded article, the article will continue
20571 to be displayed in the undownloaded face rather than the ticked face.
20573 If you use the Agent as a cache (to avoid downloading the same article
20574 each time you visit it or to minimize your connection time), the
20575 undownloaded face will probably seem like a good idea. The reason
20576 being that you do all of our work (marking, reading, deleting) with
20577 downloaded articles so the normal faces always appear. For those
20578 users using the agent to improve online performance by caching the NOV
20579 database (most users since 5.10.2), the undownloaded faces may appear
20580 to be an absolutely horrible idea. The issue being that, since none
20581 of their articles have been fetched into the Agent, all of the
20582 normal faces will be obscured by the undownloaded faces.
20584 If you would like to use the undownloaded faces, you must enable the
20585 undownloaded faces by setting the @code{agent-enable-undownloaded-faces}
20586 group parameter to @code{t}. This parameter, like all other agent
20587 parameters, may be set on an Agent Category (@pxref{Agent Categories}),
20588 a Group Topic (@pxref{Topic Parameters}), or an individual group
20589 (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
20591 The one problem common to all users using the agent is how quickly it
20592 can consume disk space. If you using the agent on many groups, it is
20593 even more difficult to effectively recover disk space. One solution
20594 is the @samp{%F} format available in @code{gnus-group-line-format}.
20595 This format will display the actual disk space used by articles
20596 fetched into both the agent and cache. By knowing which groups use
20597 the most space, users know where to focus their efforts when ``agent
20598 expiring'' articles.
20600 @node Agent as Cache
20601 @subsection Agent as Cache
20603 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
20604 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
20605 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
20606 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
20607 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
20608 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
20609 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
20610 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
20611 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
20613 If you so desire, you can configure the agent (see @code{gnus-agent-cache}
20614 @pxref{Agent Variables}) to always download headers and articles while
20615 plugged. Gnus will almost certainly be slower, but it will be kept
20616 synchronized with the server. That last point probably won't make any
20617 sense if you are using a nntp or nnimap back end.
20620 @subsection Agent Expiry
20622 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
20623 @findex gnus-agent-expire
20624 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
20625 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire-group
20626 @findex gnus-agent-expire-group
20627 @cindex agent expiry
20628 @cindex Gnus agent expiry
20629 @cindex expiry, in Gnus agent
20631 The Agent back end, @code{nnagent}, doesn't handle expiry. Well, at
20632 least it doesn't handle it like other back ends. Instead, there are
20633 special @code{gnus-agent-expire} and @code{gnus-agent-expire-group}
20634 commands that will expire all read articles that are older than
20635 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. They can be run whenever you feel
20636 that you're running out of space. Neither are particularly fast or
20637 efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to interrupt them (with
20638 @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started one of them.
20640 Note that other functions, e.g. @code{gnus-request-expire-articles},
20641 might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you to keep the agent
20642 synchronized with the group.
20644 The agent parameter @code{agent-enable-expiration} may be used to
20645 prevent expiration in selected groups.
20647 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
20648 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, the agent
20649 expiration commands will expire all articles---unread, read, ticked
20650 and dormant. If @code{nil} (which is the default), only read articles
20651 are eligible for expiry, and unread, ticked and dormant articles will
20652 be kept indefinitely.
20654 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
20655 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's are special
20656 commands, @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} and
20657 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group}, to fix possible problems.
20659 @node Agent Regeneration
20660 @subsection Agent Regeneration
20662 @cindex agent regeneration
20663 @cindex Gnus agent regeneration
20664 @cindex regeneration
20666 The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
20667 due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
20668 @code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
20669 to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
20670 internal inconsistencies.
20672 For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
20673 downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
20674 know about articles successfully downloaded prior to the connection
20675 failure. Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
20676 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
20677 such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
20679 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
20680 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
20681 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
20682 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
20683 you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
20684 recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
20686 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
20687 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
20688 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
20689 of individual articles to repair the local @acronym{NOV}(header) database. It
20690 then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
20691 are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
20694 @node Agent and flags
20695 @subsection Agent and flags
20697 The Agent works with any Gnus back end including those, such as
20698 nnimap, that store flags (read, ticked, etc) on the server. Sadly,
20699 the Agent does not actually know which backends keep their flags in
20700 the backend server rather than in @file{.newsrc}. This means that the
20701 Agent, while unplugged or disconnected, will always record all changes
20702 to the flags in its own files.
20704 When you plug back in, Gnus will then check to see if you have any
20705 changed any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the
20706 server. This behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
20708 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
20709 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
20710 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
20711 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
20712 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
20713 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
20715 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
20716 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
20717 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
20718 in the group buffer.
20720 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by ``pushing''
20721 all local flags to the server, but rather by incrementally updated the
20722 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
20723 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on an article, quit the group then
20724 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
20725 removed from the server when you ``synchronize''. The queued flag
20726 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
20727 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
20729 @node Agent and IMAP
20730 @subsection Agent and IMAP
20732 The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
20733 since there are some conceptual differences between @acronym{NNTP} and
20734 @acronym{IMAP}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
20735 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @acronym{IMAP} Disconnected Mode client.
20737 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
20738 expect from a disconnected @acronym{IMAP} client, including:
20743 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
20746 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
20750 @node Outgoing Messages
20751 @subsection Outgoing Messages
20753 By default, when Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail
20754 and news) are stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}).
20755 You can view them there after posting, and edit them at will.
20757 You can control the circumstances under which outgoing mail is queued
20758 (see @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail}, @pxref{Agent Variables}). Outgoing
20759 news is always queued when Gnus is unplugged, and never otherwise.
20761 You can send the messages either from the draft group with the special
20762 commands available there, or you can use the @kbd{J S} command in the
20763 group buffer to send all the sendable messages in the draft group.
20764 Posting news will only work when Gnus is plugged, but you can send
20767 If sending mail while unplugged does not work for you and you worry
20768 about hitting @kbd{J S} by accident when unplugged, you can have Gnus
20769 ask you to confirm your action (see
20770 @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue}, @pxref{Agent Variables}).
20772 @node Agent Variables
20773 @subsection Agent Variables
20778 Is the agent enabled? The default is @code{t}. When first enabled,
20779 the agent will use @code{gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods} to
20780 automatically mark some back ends as agentized. You may change which
20781 back ends are agentized using the agent commands in the server buffer.
20783 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
20784 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
20787 @item gnus-agent-directory
20788 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
20789 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
20790 @file{~/News/agent/}.
20792 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
20793 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
20794 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
20795 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
20796 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
20799 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
20800 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
20801 Hook run when connecting to the network.
20803 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
20804 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
20805 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
20807 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
20808 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
20809 Hook run when finished fetching articles.
20811 @item gnus-agent-cache
20812 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
20813 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @acronym{NOV} and
20814 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
20815 The default is non-@code{nil}, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
20817 @item gnus-agent-go-online
20818 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
20819 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
20820 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
20821 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
20822 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
20823 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
20826 @item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
20827 @vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
20828 If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
20829 mark articles as unread after downloading. This is usually a safe
20830 thing to do as the newly downloaded article has obviously not been
20831 read. The default is @code{t}.
20833 @item gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
20834 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
20835 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
20836 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
20837 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
20838 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
20839 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
20841 @item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
20842 @vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
20843 If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
20844 agent will let the agent predicate decide whether articles need to be
20845 downloaded or not, for all articles. When @code{nil}, the default,
20846 the agent will only let the predicate decide whether unread articles
20847 are downloaded or not. If you enable this, you may also want to look
20848 into the agent expiry settings (@pxref{Category Variables}), so that
20849 the agent doesn't download articles which the agent will later expire,
20850 over and over again.
20852 @item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
20853 @vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
20854 The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
20855 them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
20856 the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
20857 have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
20858 limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
20859 performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
20860 connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
20861 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
20862 However, all articles parsed prior to loosing the connection will be
20863 available while unplugged). The default is 10M so it is unusual to
20866 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
20867 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
20868 Perhaps not an Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
20869 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
20870 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
20871 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
20872 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
20873 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
20874 is only valid if the Agent is used.
20876 @item gnus-auto-goto-ignores
20877 @vindex gnus-auto-goto-ignores
20878 Another variable that isn't an Agent variable, yet so closely related
20879 that most will look for it here, this variable tells the summary
20880 buffer how to maneuver around undownloaded (only headers stored in the
20881 agent) and unfetched (neither article nor headers stored) articles.
20883 The valid values are @code{nil} (maneuver to any article),
20884 @code{undownloaded} (maneuvering while unplugged ignores articles that
20885 have not been fetched), @code{always-undownloaded} (maneuvering always
20886 ignores articles that have not been fetched), @code{unfetched}
20887 (maneuvering ignores articles whose headers have not been fetched).
20889 @item gnus-agent-queue-mail
20890 @vindex gnus-agent-queue-mail
20891 When @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail} is @code{always}, Gnus will always
20892 queue mail rather than sending it straight away. When @code{t}, Gnus
20893 will queue mail when unplugged only. When @code{nil}, never queue
20894 mail. The default is @code{t}.
20896 @item gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
20897 @vindex gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
20898 When @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue} is non-@code{nil} Gnus will
20899 prompt you to confirm that you really wish to proceed if you hit
20900 @kbd{J S} while unplugged. The default is @code{nil}.
20902 @item gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
20903 @vindex gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
20904 If you have never used the Agent before (or more technically, if
20905 @file{~/News/agent/lib/servers} does not exist), Gnus will
20906 automatically agentize a few servers for you. This variable control
20907 which back ends should be auto-agentized. It is typically only useful
20908 to agentize remote back ends. The auto-agentizing has the same effect
20909 as running @kbd{J a} on the servers (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}).
20910 If the file exist, you must manage the servers manually by adding or
20911 removing them, this variable is only applicable the first time you
20912 start Gnus. The default is @samp{(nntp nnimap)}.
20917 @node Example Setup
20918 @subsection Example Setup
20920 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
20921 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
20922 @file{~/.gnus.el} file to get started.
20925 ;; @r{Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @acronym{NNTP}}
20926 ;; @r{from your ISP's server.}
20927 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
20929 ;; @r{Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from}
20930 ;; @r{your ISP's @acronym{POP} server.}
20931 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
20933 ;; @r{Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.}
20934 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
20936 ;; @r{Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.}
20937 ;; (gnus-agentize) ; @r{The obsolete setting.}
20938 ;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; @r{Now the default.}
20941 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
20942 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
20945 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
20946 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
20947 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
20948 @acronym{NNTP} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
20949 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
20952 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
20953 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
20954 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
20955 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
20956 back all the killed groups.)
20958 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
20959 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
20960 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
20963 @node Batching Agents
20964 @subsection Batching Agents
20965 @findex gnus-agent-batch
20967 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
20968 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
20969 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
20971 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
20972 following incantation:
20976 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
20980 @node Agent Caveats
20981 @subsection Agent Caveats
20983 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
20984 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
20988 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
20990 @strong{No}. If you want this behavior, add
20991 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
20992 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
20994 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in
20995 the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
20997 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is @code{nil}.
21001 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
21002 articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
21003 locally stored articles.
21010 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
21011 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
21012 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
21015 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
21016 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
21017 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
21018 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
21019 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
21021 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
21022 before generating the summary buffer.
21024 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
21025 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
21026 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
21028 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
21029 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
21030 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
21031 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
21034 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
21035 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
21036 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
21037 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
21038 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
21039 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
21040 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
21041 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
21042 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
21043 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
21044 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
21045 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
21046 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
21047 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
21048 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
21049 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
21053 @node Summary Score Commands
21054 @section Summary Score Commands
21055 @cindex score commands
21057 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
21058 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
21059 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
21060 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
21061 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
21063 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
21064 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
21065 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
21066 score file the current one.
21068 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
21073 @kindex V s (Summary)
21074 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
21075 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
21078 @kindex V S (Summary)
21079 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
21080 Display the score of the current article
21081 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
21084 @kindex V t (Summary)
21085 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
21086 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
21087 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}). In the @code{*Score Trace*} buffer, you
21088 may type @kbd{e} to edit score file corresponding to the score rule on
21089 current line and @kbd{f} to format (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) the
21090 score file and edit it.
21093 @kindex V w (Summary)
21094 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
21095 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
21098 @kindex V R (Summary)
21099 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
21100 Run the current summary through the scoring process
21101 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
21102 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
21103 effect you're having.
21106 @kindex V c (Summary)
21107 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
21108 Make a different score file the current
21109 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
21112 @kindex V e (Summary)
21113 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
21114 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
21115 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
21119 @kindex V f (Summary)
21120 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
21121 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
21122 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
21125 @kindex V F (Summary)
21126 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
21127 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
21128 after editing score files.
21131 @kindex V C (Summary)
21132 @findex gnus-score-customize
21133 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
21134 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
21138 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
21143 @kindex V m (Summary)
21144 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
21145 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
21146 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
21149 @kindex V x (Summary)
21150 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
21151 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
21152 expunge all articles below this score
21153 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
21156 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
21157 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
21160 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
21161 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
21165 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
21166 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
21168 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
21169 keys are available:
21173 Score on the author name.
21176 Score on the subject line.
21179 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
21182 Score on the @code{References} line.
21188 Score on the number of lines.
21191 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
21194 Score on an ``extra'' header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
21195 if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
21198 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
21199 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
21200 @file{ADAPT} files.)
21209 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
21215 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
21216 what headers you are scoring on.
21228 Substring matching.
21231 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
21260 Greater than number.
21265 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
21266 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
21267 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
21272 Temporary score entry.
21275 Permanent score entry.
21278 Immediately scoring.
21282 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
21283 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
21284 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
21288 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
21289 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
21290 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
21291 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
21293 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
21294 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
21295 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
21296 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
21297 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
21299 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
21300 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
21301 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
21302 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
21303 current score file.
21305 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
21306 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
21307 pretend they are keymaps or not.
21310 @node Group Score Commands
21311 @section Group Score Commands
21312 @cindex group score commands
21314 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
21319 @kindex W e (Group)
21320 @findex gnus-score-edit-all-score
21321 Edit the apply-to-all-groups all.SCORE file. You will be popped into
21322 a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score File Editing}).
21325 @kindex W f (Group)
21326 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
21327 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
21328 all the time. This command will flush the cache
21329 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
21333 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
21335 @findex gnus-batch-score
21336 @cindex batch scoring
21338 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
21342 @node Score Variables
21343 @section Score Variables
21344 @cindex score variables
21348 @item gnus-use-scoring
21349 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
21350 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
21351 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
21353 @item gnus-kill-killed
21354 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
21355 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
21356 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
21357 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
21358 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
21359 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
21360 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
21362 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
21363 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
21364 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
21365 initialized from the @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
21366 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
21368 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
21369 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
21370 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
21371 (@file{SCORE} by default.)
21373 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
21374 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
21375 @cindex score cache
21376 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
21377 score files. However, this might make your Emacs grow big and
21378 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely
21379 to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
21380 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
21381 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
21382 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
21385 @item gnus-save-score
21386 @vindex gnus-save-score
21387 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
21388 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
21389 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
21391 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
21392 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
21393 across group visits.
21395 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
21396 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
21397 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
21398 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
21399 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
21400 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
21401 manually entered data.
21403 @item gnus-summary-default-score
21404 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
21405 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
21407 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
21408 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
21409 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
21410 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
21411 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
21412 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
21414 @item gnus-score-over-mark
21415 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
21416 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
21417 default. Default is @samp{+}.
21419 @item gnus-score-below-mark
21420 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
21421 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
21422 default. Default is @samp{-}.
21424 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
21425 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
21426 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
21427 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
21429 Predefined functions available are:
21432 @item gnus-score-find-single
21433 @findex gnus-score-find-single
21434 Only apply the group's own score file.
21436 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
21437 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
21438 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
21439 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
21440 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
21441 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
21442 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
21443 then a regexp match is done.
21445 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
21446 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
21448 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
21449 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
21450 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
21451 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
21453 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
21454 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
21455 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
21456 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
21457 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
21461 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
21462 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
21463 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
21464 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
21465 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
21466 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
21467 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
21470 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
21471 overall score file, you could use the value
21473 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
21474 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
21477 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
21478 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
21479 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
21480 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
21481 are expired. It's 7 by default.
21483 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
21484 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
21485 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
21486 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
21487 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
21488 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
21489 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
21490 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
21492 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
21493 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
21494 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
21496 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
21497 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
21498 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be
21499 simplified for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
21500 threading---according to the current value of
21501 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions}. If the scoring entry uses
21502 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
21503 simplified in this manner.
21508 @node Score File Format
21509 @section Score File Format
21510 @cindex score file format
21512 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
21513 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
21514 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
21516 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
21520 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
21522 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
21524 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
21526 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
21531 (mark-and-expunge -10)
21535 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
21536 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
21537 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
21538 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
21542 This example demonstrates most score file elements. @xref{Advanced
21543 Scoring}, for a different approach.
21545 Even though this looks much like Lisp code, nothing here is actually
21546 @code{eval}ed. The Lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
21547 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
21549 Six keys are supported by this alist:
21554 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
21555 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
21556 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
21557 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
21558 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
21559 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
21560 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
21561 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
21562 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
21563 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
21564 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
21565 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
21566 to articles that matches these score entries.
21568 Following this key is an arbitrary number of score entries, where each
21569 score entry has one to four elements.
21573 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
21574 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
21578 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
21579 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
21580 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
21581 is successful. If this element is not present, the
21582 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
21583 instead. This is 1000 by default.
21586 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
21587 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
21588 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
21589 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
21590 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
21593 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
21594 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
21595 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
21596 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
21599 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
21600 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
21601 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
21602 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
21603 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
21604 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
21605 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
21606 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
21607 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
21608 instead, if you feel like.
21611 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
21612 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
21613 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
21614 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
21615 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin
21616 host, if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks @samp{NNTP-Posting-Host} in
21620 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s
21621 "NNTP-Posting-Host")
21625 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
21626 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
21628 These predicates are true if
21631 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
21634 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
21635 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
21642 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
21643 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
21644 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
21645 it's not. I think.)
21647 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
21648 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
21649 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
21650 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
21653 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
21654 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
21655 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
21656 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
21657 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
21658 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
21659 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
21663 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
21664 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
21665 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
21666 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
21667 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
21668 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
21669 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
21670 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
21673 @item Head, Body, All
21674 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
21678 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
21679 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
21680 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
21681 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
21682 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
21683 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
21684 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
21688 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
21689 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
21690 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
21691 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
21692 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
21693 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
21694 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
21695 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
21696 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
21697 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
21698 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
21702 @cindex score file atoms
21704 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
21705 lower than this number will be marked as read.
21708 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
21709 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
21711 @item mark-and-expunge
21712 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
21713 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
21716 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
21717 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
21718 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
21719 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
21720 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
21723 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
21724 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
21727 @item exclude-files
21728 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
21729 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
21733 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
21734 ignored when handling global score files.
21737 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
21738 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
21739 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
21740 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
21743 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
21744 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
21745 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
21746 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
21748 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
21752 (mark-and-expunge -100)
21755 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
21756 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
21757 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
21758 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
21759 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
21761 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
21762 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
21763 scoring rules exist.
21766 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
21767 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
21768 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
21769 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
21770 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
21771 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
21772 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
21773 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
21774 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
21775 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
21776 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
21780 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
21781 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
21782 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
21783 file for a number of groups.
21786 @cindex local variables
21787 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(@var{var}
21788 @var{value})} pairs. Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the
21789 current summary buffer, and set to the value specified. This is a
21790 convenient, if somewhat strange, way of setting variables in some
21791 groups if you don't like hooks much. Note that the @var{value} won't
21796 @node Score File Editing
21797 @section Score File Editing
21799 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
21800 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
21801 with a mode for that.
21803 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
21804 additional commands:
21809 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
21810 @findex gnus-score-edit-exit
21811 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
21812 (@code{gnus-score-edit-exit}).
21815 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
21816 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
21817 Insert the current date in numerical format
21818 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
21819 you were wondering.
21822 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
21823 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
21824 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
21825 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
21826 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
21831 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
21833 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
21834 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
21836 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f}, @kbd{V e} and
21837 @kbd{V t} to begin editing score files.
21840 @node Adaptive Scoring
21841 @section Adaptive Scoring
21842 @cindex adaptive scoring
21844 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
21845 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
21846 stupidity, to be precise.
21848 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
21849 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
21850 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
21851 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
21852 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
21853 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
21854 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
21855 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
21856 variable to @code{(word line)}.
21858 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
21859 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
21860 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
21861 might look something like this:
21864 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
21865 '((gnus-unread-mark)
21866 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
21867 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
21868 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
21869 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
21870 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
21871 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
21872 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
21873 (gnus-ancient-mark)
21874 (gnus-low-score-mark)
21875 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
21878 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
21879 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
21880 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
21881 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
21882 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
21883 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
21886 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
21887 will be applied to each article.
21889 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
21890 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{e}) will have a
21891 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
21892 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
21894 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
21895 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
21896 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
21897 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
21899 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
21900 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
21901 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
21902 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
21904 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
21905 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
21906 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
21907 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
21908 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
21909 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
21911 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
21912 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
21913 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
21915 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
21916 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
21917 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
21919 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
21920 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
21921 let you use different rules in different groups.
21923 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
21924 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
21925 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
21928 @vindex gnus-adaptive-pretty-print
21929 Adaptive score files can get huge and are not meant to be edited by
21930 human hands. If @code{gnus-adaptive-pretty-print} is @code{nil} (the
21931 deafult) those files will not be written in a human readable way.
21933 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
21934 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
21935 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
21936 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
21937 the length of the match is less than
21938 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
21939 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
21942 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
21943 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
21944 headers. If you adapt on words, the
21945 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
21946 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
21949 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
21950 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
21951 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
21952 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
21953 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
21956 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
21957 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
21958 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
21959 score with 30 points.
21961 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
21962 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
21963 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
21964 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
21965 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
21967 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
21968 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
21969 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
21970 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
21971 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
21973 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
21974 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
21975 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
21976 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
21978 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
21979 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
21980 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
21981 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
21983 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
21984 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
21985 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
21986 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
21987 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
21989 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
21990 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
21991 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
21993 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
21994 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
21995 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
21996 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
21999 @node Home Score File
22000 @section Home Score File
22002 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
22003 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
22004 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
22005 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
22007 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
22008 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
22009 could perhaps use the same home score file.
22011 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
22012 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
22017 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
22021 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
22022 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
22026 A list. The elements in this list can be:
22030 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
22031 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
22034 A function. If the function returns non-@code{nil}, the result will
22035 be used as the home score file. The function will be called with the
22036 name of the group as the parameter.
22039 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
22042 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
22047 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
22050 (setq gnus-home-score-file
22051 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
22054 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
22055 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
22057 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
22059 (setq gnus-home-score-file
22060 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
22063 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
22064 Other functions include
22067 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
22068 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
22069 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
22070 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
22074 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
22075 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
22076 their own home score files:
22079 (setq gnus-home-score-file
22080 ;; @r{All groups that match the regexp @code{"\\.emacs"}}
22081 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
22082 ;; @r{All the comp groups in one score file}
22083 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
22086 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
22087 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
22088 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
22089 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
22090 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
22092 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
22093 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
22094 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
22095 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
22096 precedence over this variable.
22099 @node Followups To Yourself
22100 @section Followups To Yourself
22102 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
22103 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
22104 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
22105 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
22106 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
22107 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
22111 @item gnus-score-followup-article
22112 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
22113 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
22116 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
22117 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
22118 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
22122 @vindex message-sent-hook
22123 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
22124 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
22126 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
22130 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
22131 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
22135 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
22136 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
22139 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
22140 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
22145 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
22149 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
22150 is system-dependent.
22153 @node Scoring On Other Headers
22154 @section Scoring On Other Headers
22155 @cindex scoring on other headers
22157 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
22158 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
22159 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
22160 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
22161 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
22163 @vindex gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring
22164 You can inhibit this slow scoring on headers or body by setting the
22165 variable @code{gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring}. If
22166 @code{gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring} is regexp, slow scoring is inhibited if
22167 the group matches the regexp. If it is t, slow scoring on it is
22168 inhibited for all groups.
22170 Now, there's not much you can do about the slowness for news groups, but for
22171 mail groups, you have greater control. In @ref{To From Newsgroups},
22172 it's explained in greater detail what this mechanism does, but here's
22173 a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on how to allow scoring on the
22174 @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
22176 Put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
22179 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
22180 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
22183 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
22184 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
22185 time if you have much mail.
22187 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
22188 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
22194 @section Scoring Tips
22195 @cindex scoring tips
22201 @cindex scoring crossposts
22202 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
22203 the @code{Xref} header.
22205 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
22208 @item Multiple crossposts
22209 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
22210 more than, say, 3 groups:
22213 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
22217 @item Matching on the body
22218 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
22219 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
22220 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
22221 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
22222 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
22223 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
22224 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
22227 @item Marking as read
22228 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
22229 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
22230 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
22234 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
22236 @item Negated character classes
22237 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
22238 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
22239 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
22243 @node Reverse Scoring
22244 @section Reverse Scoring
22245 @cindex reverse scoring
22247 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
22248 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
22249 like this in your score file:
22253 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
22258 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
22259 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
22262 @node Global Score Files
22263 @section Global Score Files
22264 @cindex global score files
22266 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
22267 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
22268 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
22270 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
22271 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
22272 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
22274 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
22275 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
22276 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
22277 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
22278 files are applicable to which group.
22280 To use the score file
22281 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
22282 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
22286 (setq gnus-global-score-files
22287 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
22288 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
22291 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
22293 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
22294 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
22295 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
22296 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
22298 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
22299 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
22301 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
22302 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
22303 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
22304 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
22305 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
22306 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
22308 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
22314 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
22316 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
22318 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
22320 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
22321 lowered out of existence.
22323 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
22324 articles completely.
22327 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
22328 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
22329 old articles for a long time.
22332 @dots{} I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
22333 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
22334 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
22335 holding our breath yet?
22339 @section Kill Files
22342 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
22343 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
22344 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
22346 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
22347 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
22348 files into score files.
22350 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
22351 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
22352 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
22353 that isn't a very good idea.
22355 Normal kill files look like this:
22358 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
22359 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
22363 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
22364 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
22366 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
22367 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
22370 Two summary functions for editing a @sc{gnus} kill file:
22375 @kindex M-k (Summary)
22376 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
22377 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
22380 @kindex M-K (Summary)
22381 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
22382 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
22385 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
22390 @kindex M-k (Group)
22391 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
22392 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
22395 @kindex M-K (Group)
22396 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
22397 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
22400 Kill file variables:
22403 @item gnus-kill-file-name
22404 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
22405 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
22406 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
22407 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
22408 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
22409 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
22411 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
22412 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
22413 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
22414 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
22417 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
22418 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
22419 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
22420 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
22421 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
22422 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
22423 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
22424 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
22425 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
22427 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
22428 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
22429 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
22434 @node Converting Kill Files
22435 @section Converting Kill Files
22437 @cindex converting kill files
22439 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
22440 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
22441 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
22444 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
22445 You can fetch it from
22446 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
22448 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
22449 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
22450 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
22454 @node Advanced Scoring
22455 @section Advanced Scoring
22457 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
22458 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
22459 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
22460 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
22461 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
22463 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
22467 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
22468 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
22469 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
22473 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
22474 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
22476 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
22477 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
22478 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
22479 non-@code{nil} value.
22481 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
22482 operator, and various match operators.
22489 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
22490 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
22491 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
22496 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
22497 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
22498 then this operator will return @code{false}.
22503 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
22504 logical negation of the value of its argument.
22508 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
22509 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
22510 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
22511 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
22512 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
22513 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
22514 the ancestry you want to go.
22516 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
22517 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
22518 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
22519 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
22520 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
22523 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
22524 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
22526 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
22527 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
22530 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
22531 when he's talking about Gnus:
22536 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
22537 ("subject" "Gnus"))
22544 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
22548 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
22555 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
22556 really don't want to read what he's written:
22560 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
22561 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigil Logge")))
22565 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
22566 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
22567 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
22574 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
22575 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
22576 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
22577 ("body" "white.*socks"))
22581 Suppose you're reading a high volume group and you're only interested
22582 in replies. The plan is to score down all articles that don't have
22583 subject that begin with "Re:", "Fw:" or "Fwd:" and then score up all
22584 parents of articles that have subjects that begin with reply marks.
22587 ((! ("subject" "re:\\|fwd?:" r))
22589 ((1- ("subject" "re:\\|fwd?:" r))
22593 The possibilities are endless.
22595 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
22596 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
22598 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
22599 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
22600 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
22601 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
22602 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
22603 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
22604 @samp{subject}) first.
22606 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
22607 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
22618 Then that means ``score on the from header of the grandparent of the
22619 current article''. An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
22625 ("subject" "Gnus")))
22632 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
22633 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
22638 @section Score Decays
22639 @cindex score decays
22642 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
22643 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
22644 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
22645 use them in any sensible way.
22647 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
22648 @findex gnus-decay-score
22649 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
22650 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
22651 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
22652 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
22653 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
22654 If @code{gnus-decay-scores} is a regexp, only score files matching this
22655 regexp are treated. E.g. you may set it to @samp{\\.ADAPT\\'} if only
22656 @emph{adaptive} score files should be decayed. The decay itself if
22657 performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function} function, which is
22658 @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the definition of that
22662 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
22663 "Decay SCORE according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
22664 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
22666 (* (if (< score 0) -1 1)
22668 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
22670 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
22671 (if (and (featurep 'xemacs)
22672 ;; XEmacs' floor can handle only the floating point
22673 ;; number below the half of the maximum integer.
22674 (> (abs n) (lsh -1 -2)))
22676 (car (split-string (number-to-string n) "\\.")))
22680 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
22681 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
22682 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
22683 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
22687 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
22690 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
22693 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
22697 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
22698 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
22699 the new score, which should be an integer.
22701 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
22702 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
22707 @include message.texi
22708 @chapter Emacs MIME
22709 @include emacs-mime.texi
22711 @include sieve.texi
22723 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
22724 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
22725 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
22726 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
22727 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
22728 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
22729 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
22730 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
22731 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
22732 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
22733 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
22734 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
22735 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
22736 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
22737 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
22738 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
22739 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
22740 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
22741 * Thwarting Email Spam:: Simple ways to avoid unsolicited commercial email.
22742 * Spam Package:: A package for filtering and processing spam.
22743 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
22744 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
22748 @node Process/Prefix
22749 @section Process/Prefix
22750 @cindex process/prefix convention
22752 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
22753 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
22755 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
22756 command to be performed on.
22760 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
22761 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
22762 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
22763 with the current one.
22765 @vindex transient-mark-mode
22766 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
22767 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
22769 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
22770 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
22773 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
22774 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
22776 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
22779 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
22780 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
22781 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
22782 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
22784 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
22785 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
22786 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
22787 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
22788 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
22789 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
22790 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
22791 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
22793 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
22794 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
22795 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
22796 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
22797 expirable, you could say @kbd{M P b M-& E}.
22801 @section Interactive
22802 @cindex interaction
22806 @item gnus-novice-user
22807 @vindex gnus-novice-user
22808 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
22809 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
22810 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
22811 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
22814 @item gnus-expert-user
22815 @vindex gnus-expert-user
22816 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
22817 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
22818 matter how strange.
22820 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
22821 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
22822 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
22823 is @code{t} by default.
22825 @item gnus-interactive-exit
22826 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
22827 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
22832 @node Symbolic Prefixes
22833 @section Symbolic Prefixes
22834 @cindex symbolic prefixes
22836 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
22837 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
22838 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
22839 rule of 900 to the current article.
22841 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
22842 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
22843 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
22844 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
22845 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
22846 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
22847 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
22849 @kindex M-i (Summary)
22850 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
22851 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
22852 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
22853 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
22854 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
22855 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
22856 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
22857 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
22859 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
22860 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
22861 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
22863 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
22867 @node Formatting Variables
22868 @section Formatting Variables
22869 @cindex formatting variables
22871 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
22872 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
22873 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
22874 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
22875 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
22878 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
22879 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
22880 lots of percentages everywhere.
22883 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
22884 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
22885 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
22886 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
22887 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
22888 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
22889 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
22890 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
22893 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
22894 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
22895 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
22896 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
22897 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
22898 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
22899 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
22900 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
22902 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
22903 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
22905 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
22906 @findex gnus-update-format
22907 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
22908 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
22909 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
22910 examine the resulting Lisp code to be run to generate the line.
22914 @node Formatting Basics
22915 @subsection Formatting Basics
22917 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
22918 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
22919 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
22921 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
22922 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
22923 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
22924 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
22925 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
22928 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
22929 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
22930 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
22931 less than 4 characters wide.
22933 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
22934 @samp{%&user-date;}.
22937 @node Mode Line Formatting
22938 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
22940 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
22941 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
22942 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
22943 with the following two differences:
22948 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
22951 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
22952 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
22953 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
22954 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
22955 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
22956 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
22957 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
22962 @node Advanced Formatting
22963 @subsection Advanced Formatting
22965 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
22966 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
22967 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
22968 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
22970 These are the valid modifiers:
22975 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
22979 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
22984 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
22987 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
22992 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
22995 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
22998 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
23001 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
23007 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
23012 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
23013 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
23014 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
23015 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
23016 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
23017 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
23018 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
23020 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
23021 last operation, padding.
23023 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
23024 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
23025 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
23026 @xref{Compilation}.
23029 @node User-Defined Specs
23030 @subsection User-Defined Specs
23032 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
23033 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
23034 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
23035 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
23036 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
23037 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
23038 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
23039 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
23040 should protect against that.
23042 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
23043 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
23045 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
23046 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
23047 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
23048 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
23052 @node Formatting Fonts
23053 @subsection Formatting Fonts
23056 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
23057 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
23058 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
23059 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
23060 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
23064 @vindex gnus-face-0
23065 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
23066 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
23067 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
23068 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
23069 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
23070 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
23072 @cindex %<<, %>>, guillemets
23073 @c @cindex %<<, %>>, %«, %», guillemets
23074 @vindex gnus-balloon-face-0
23075 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
23076 special @code{balloon-help} property set to
23077 @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get
23078 @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*}
23079 variables should be either strings or symbols naming functions that
23080 return a string. When the mouse passes over text with this property
23081 set, a balloon window will appear and display the string. Please
23082 refer to @ref{Tooltips, ,Tooltips, emacs, The Emacs Manual},
23083 (in GNU Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in
23084 XEmacs) for more information on this. (For technical reasons, the
23085 guillemets have been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this
23088 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
23091 ;; @r{Create three face types.}
23092 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
23093 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
23095 ;; @r{We want the article count to be in}
23096 ;; @r{a bold and green face. So we create}
23097 ;; @r{a new face called @code{my-green-bold}.}
23098 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
23099 ;; @r{Set the color.}
23100 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
23101 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
23103 ;; @r{Set the new & fancy format.}
23104 (setq gnus-group-line-format
23105 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
23108 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
23109 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
23111 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
23112 mode-line variables.
23114 @node Positioning Point
23115 @subsection Positioning Point
23117 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
23118 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
23119 line. You can customize this behavior in three different ways.
23121 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
23123 @findex gnus-goto-colon
23124 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
23125 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
23127 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
23128 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
23129 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
23134 @subsection Tabulation
23136 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
23137 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
23138 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
23139 about lining up the following text afterwards.
23141 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs---@samp{%=}. There are two
23142 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
23144 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
23145 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
23146 This is the soft tabulator.
23148 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
23149 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
23150 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
23153 @node Wide Characters
23154 @subsection Wide Characters
23156 Fixed width fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
23157 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
23158 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
23160 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
23161 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
23162 these countries, that's not true.
23164 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
23165 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
23166 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
23167 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
23171 @node Window Layout
23172 @section Window Layout
23173 @cindex window layout
23175 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
23177 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
23178 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
23179 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
23180 @code{t} by default.
23182 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
23183 glitches. Use at your own peril.
23185 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
23186 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
23187 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
23190 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
23191 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
23192 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
23196 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
23197 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
23198 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
23199 possible names is listed below.
23201 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
23202 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
23205 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
23209 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
23210 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
23211 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
23212 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
23213 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
23214 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
23215 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
23216 size spec per split.
23218 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
23219 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
23220 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
23221 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
23222 present) gets focus.
23224 Here's a more complicated example:
23227 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
23228 (summary 0.25 point)
23229 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
23233 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
23234 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
23235 occupy, not a percentage.
23237 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
23238 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
23239 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
23240 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
23241 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
23244 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
23247 (article (horizontal 1.0
23252 (summary 0.25 point)
23257 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
23258 @code{horizontal} thingie?
23260 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
23261 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
23262 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
23263 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
23264 the screen is to be given to this strip.
23266 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
23267 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
23268 lines from the splits.
23270 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
23275 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
23276 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
23277 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
23278 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
23279 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
23280 size = number | frame-params
23281 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
23285 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
23286 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
23287 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
23288 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
23290 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
23291 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
23292 @cindex window height
23293 @cindex window width
23294 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
23295 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
23296 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
23297 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
23298 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
23299 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
23301 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
23302 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
23303 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
23304 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
23306 @findex gnus-configure-frame
23307 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
23308 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
23309 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
23310 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
23311 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
23312 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
23313 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
23314 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
23315 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
23316 configuration list.
23319 (gnus-configure-frame
23323 (article 0.3 point))
23331 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
23332 @code{frame} split:
23335 (gnus-configure-frame
23338 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
23340 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
23341 (user-position . t)
23342 (left . -1) (top . 1))
23347 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
23348 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
23349 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
23350 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
23351 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
23352 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
23353 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
23354 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
23356 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
23357 be found in its default value.
23359 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
23360 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
23361 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
23365 (message (horizontal 1.0
23366 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
23368 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
23373 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
23374 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
23375 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
23380 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
23381 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
23382 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
23383 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
23384 (name . "Message"))
23385 (message 1.0 point))))
23388 @findex gnus-add-configuration
23389 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
23390 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
23391 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
23392 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
23395 (gnus-add-configuration
23396 '(article (vertical 1.0
23398 (summary .25 point)
23402 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
23403 @file{~/.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
23404 Gnus has been loaded.
23406 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
23407 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
23408 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
23409 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
23410 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
23412 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
23413 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
23414 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
23417 @subsection Example Window Configurations
23421 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
23422 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
23437 (gnus-add-configuration
23440 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
23442 (summary 0.16 point)
23445 (gnus-add-configuration
23448 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
23449 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
23455 @node Faces and Fonts
23456 @section Faces and Fonts
23461 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
23462 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
23463 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
23468 @section Compilation
23469 @cindex compilation
23470 @cindex byte-compilation
23472 @findex gnus-compile
23474 Remember all those line format specification variables?
23475 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
23476 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
23477 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
23478 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
23479 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
23482 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
23483 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
23484 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
23485 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
23486 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
23487 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
23488 them into the @file{~/.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
23492 @section Mode Lines
23495 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
23496 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
23497 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
23498 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
23499 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
23500 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
23501 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
23504 @cindex display-time
23506 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
23507 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
23508 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
23509 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
23510 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
23511 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
23512 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
23513 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
23516 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
23518 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
23519 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
23521 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
23522 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
23523 (length display-time-string)))))
23526 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
23527 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
23528 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
23529 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
23530 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
23533 @node Highlighting and Menus
23534 @section Highlighting and Menus
23536 @cindex highlighting
23539 @vindex gnus-visual
23540 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
23541 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
23542 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
23545 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
23546 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
23549 @item group-highlight
23550 Do highlights in the group buffer.
23551 @item summary-highlight
23552 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
23553 @item article-highlight
23554 Do highlights in the article buffer.
23556 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
23558 Create menus in the group buffer.
23560 Create menus in the summary buffers.
23562 Create menus in the article buffer.
23564 Create menus in the browse buffer.
23566 Create menus in the server buffer.
23568 Create menus in the score buffers.
23570 Create menus in all buffers.
23573 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
23574 buffers, you could say something like:
23577 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
23580 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
23583 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
23586 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
23587 in all Gnus buffers.
23589 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
23592 @item gnus-mouse-face
23593 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
23594 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
23595 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
23599 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
23603 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
23604 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
23605 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
23607 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
23608 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
23609 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
23611 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
23612 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
23613 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
23615 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
23616 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
23617 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
23619 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
23620 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
23621 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
23623 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
23624 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
23625 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
23636 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
23637 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
23638 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
23639 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
23640 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
23644 @vindex gnus-carpal
23645 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
23646 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
23647 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
23652 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
23653 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
23654 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
23656 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
23657 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
23658 Face used on buttons.
23660 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
23661 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
23662 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
23664 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
23665 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
23666 Buttons in the group buffer.
23668 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
23669 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
23670 Buttons in the summary buffer.
23672 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
23673 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
23674 Buttons in the server buffer.
23676 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
23677 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
23678 Buttons in the browse buffer.
23681 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
23682 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
23683 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
23691 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
23692 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
23693 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
23694 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
23695 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
23697 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
23698 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
23699 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
23701 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
23702 been idle for thirty minutes:
23705 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
23708 Here's a handler that scans for @acronym{PGP} headers every hour when
23712 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
23715 This @var{time} parameter and that @var{idle} parameter work together
23716 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
23717 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
23719 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
23720 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
23721 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
23722 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
23724 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
23725 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
23726 @var{idle} minutes.
23728 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
23729 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
23732 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
23733 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
23734 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
23736 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
23737 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
23738 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
23739 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
23741 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
23742 your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23744 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
23746 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
23749 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
23750 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
23751 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
23752 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
23753 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
23754 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
23755 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
23756 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
23757 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
23758 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
23759 @file{~/.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
23761 @findex gnus-demon-init
23762 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
23763 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
23764 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
23765 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
23766 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
23768 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
23769 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
23770 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
23779 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
23780 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
23782 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
23783 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
23784 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
23785 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
23788 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
23789 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
23790 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
23791 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
23793 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
23794 this will make spam disappear.
23796 There are some variables to customize, of course:
23799 @item gnus-use-nocem
23800 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
23801 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
23804 You can also set this variable to a positive number as a group level.
23805 In that case, Gnus scans NoCeM messages when checking new news if this
23806 value is not exceeding a group level that you specify as the prefix
23807 argument to some commands, e.g. @code{gnus},
23808 @code{gnus-group-get-new-news}, etc. Otherwise, Gnus does not scan
23809 NoCeM messages if you specify a group level to those commands. For
23810 example, if you use 1 or 2 on the mail groups and the levels on the news
23811 groups remain the default, 3 is the best choice.
23813 @item gnus-nocem-groups
23814 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
23815 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
23818 ("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
23819 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")
23822 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
23823 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
23824 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
23825 people you want to listen to. The default is
23827 ("Automoose-1" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
23828 "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo" "hweede@@snafu.de")
23830 fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
23832 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at@*
23833 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
23835 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
23836 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
23837 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
23838 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
23839 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
23840 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
23841 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
23842 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
23843 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
23844 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
23846 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
23847 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
23850 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
23853 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
23854 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
23857 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
23860 The specs are applied left-to-right.
23863 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
23864 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
23866 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
23867 says she is. The default is @code{pgg-verify}, which returns
23868 non-@code{nil} if the verification is successful, otherwise (including
23869 the case the NoCeM message was not signed) returns @code{nil}. If this
23870 is too slow and you don't care for verification (which may be dangerous),
23871 you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
23873 Formerly the default was @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
23874 function. While you can still use it, you can change it into
23875 @code{pgg-verify} running with GnuPG if you are willing to add the
23876 @acronym{PGP} public keys to GnuPG's keyring.
23878 @item gnus-nocem-directory
23879 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
23880 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is@*
23881 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
23883 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
23884 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
23885 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
23886 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
23887 might then see old spam.
23889 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
23890 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
23891 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
23892 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
23893 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
23896 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
23897 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
23898 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
23899 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
23903 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
23904 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
23905 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
23906 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
23913 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
23914 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
23915 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
23917 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
23918 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
23919 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
23920 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
23921 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
23922 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
23923 @code{undo} function.
23925 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
23926 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
23927 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
23928 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
23929 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
23930 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
23931 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
23932 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
23933 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
23934 never be totally undoable.
23936 @findex gnus-undo-mode
23937 @vindex gnus-use-undo
23939 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
23940 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
23941 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
23942 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
23946 @node Predicate Specifiers
23947 @section Predicate Specifiers
23948 @cindex predicate specifiers
23950 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
23951 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
23952 to type all that much.
23954 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
23959 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
23960 gnus-article-unread-p)
23963 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
23964 functions all take one parameter.
23966 @findex gnus-make-predicate
23967 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
23968 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
23969 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
23974 @section Moderation
23977 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
23978 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
23979 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
23982 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
23986 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
23989 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
23991 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
23996 You split your incoming mail by matching on
23997 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
23998 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
24001 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
24002 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
24005 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
24006 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
24010 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
24013 (setq gnus-moderated-list
24014 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
24018 @node Fetching a Group
24019 @section Fetching a Group
24020 @cindex fetching a group
24022 @findex gnus-fetch-group
24023 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
24024 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
24025 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
24026 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
24027 It takes the group name as a parameter.
24030 @node Image Enhancements
24031 @section Image Enhancements
24033 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21@footnote{Emacs 21 on MS Windows doesn't
24034 support images, Emacs 22 does.} and up, are able to display pictures and
24035 stuff, so Gnus has taken advantage of that.
24038 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
24039 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
24040 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
24041 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
24042 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
24050 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
24051 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
24052 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
24056 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
24057 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
24058 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
24066 Viewing an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
24067 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions have), or that you
24068 have suitable conversion or display programs installed. If your Emacs
24069 has image support the default action is to display the face before the
24070 @code{From} header. If there's no native @code{X-Face} support, Gnus
24071 will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using external programs
24072 from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends, see below. For XEmacs it's
24073 faster if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support. The
24074 default action under Emacs without image support is to fork off the
24075 @code{display} program.
24077 On a GNU/Linux system, the @code{display} program is included in the
24078 ImageMagick package. For external conversion programs look for packages
24079 with names like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.
24080 On Windows, you may use the packages @code{netpbm} and @code{compface}
24081 from @url{http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net}. You need to add the
24082 @code{bin} directory to your @code{PATH} environment variable.
24083 @c In fact only the following DLLs and binaries seem to be required:
24084 @c compface1.dll uncompface.exe libnetpbm10.dll icontopbm.exe
24086 The variable @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} controls which programs
24087 are used to display the @code{X-Face} header. If this variable is a
24088 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
24089 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
24090 If @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches the
24091 @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
24093 (Note: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
24101 @vindex gnus-x-face
24102 Face to show X-Face. The colors from this face are used as the
24103 foreground and background colors of the displayed X-Faces. The
24104 default colors are black and white.
24106 @item gnus-face-properties-alist
24107 @vindex gnus-face-properties-alist
24108 Alist of image types and properties applied to Face (@pxref{Face}) and
24109 X-Face images. The default value is @code{((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face))
24110 (png . nil))} for Emacs or @code{((xface . (:face gnus-x-face)))} for
24111 XEmacs. Here are examples:
24114 ;; Specify the altitude of Face and X-Face images in the From header.
24115 (setq gnus-face-properties-alist
24116 '((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face :ascent 80))
24117 (png . (:ascent 80))))
24119 ;; Show Face and X-Face images as pressed buttons.
24120 (setq gnus-face-properties-alist
24121 '((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face :relief -2))
24122 (png . (:relief -2))))
24125 @pxref{Image Descriptors, ,Image Descriptors, elisp, The Emacs Lisp
24126 Reference Manual} for the valid properties for various image types.
24127 Currently, @code{pbm} is used for X-Face images and @code{png} is used
24128 for Face images in Emacs. Only the @code{:face} property is effective
24129 on the @code{xface} image type in XEmacs if it is built with the
24130 @samp{libcompface} library.
24133 If you use posting styles, you can use an @code{x-face-file} entry in
24134 @code{gnus-posting-styles}, @xref{Posting Styles}. If you don't, Gnus
24135 provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow easier
24136 insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages. You also need the
24137 above mentioned ImageMagick, netpbm or other image conversion packages
24138 (depending the values of the variables below) for these functions.
24140 @findex gnus-random-x-face
24141 @vindex gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command
24142 @vindex gnus-x-face-directory
24143 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
24144 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
24145 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
24146 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
24147 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
24148 header data as a string.
24150 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
24151 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
24152 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
24153 randomly generated data.
24155 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
24156 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command
24157 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
24158 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
24159 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
24161 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
24162 like the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
24165 (setq message-required-news-headers
24166 (nconc message-required-news-headers
24167 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
24170 Using the last function would be something like this:
24173 (setq message-required-news-headers
24174 (nconc message-required-news-headers
24175 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
24176 (gnus-x-face-from-file
24177 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
24185 @c #### FIXME: faces and x-faces' implementations should really be harmonized.
24187 @code{Face} headers are essentially a funkier version of @code{X-Face}
24188 ones. They describe a 48x48 pixel colored image that's supposed to
24189 represent the author of the message.
24192 @findex gnus-article-display-face
24193 The contents of a @code{Face} header must be a base64 encoded PNG image.
24194 See @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/circus/face/} for the precise
24197 The @code{gnus-face-properties-alist} variable affects the appearance of
24198 displayed Face images. @xref{X-Face}.
24200 Viewing an @code{Face} header requires an Emacs that is able to display
24203 @c (if (featurep 'xemacs)
24205 @c (image-type-available-p 'png))
24207 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
24208 easier insertion of Face headers in outgoing messages.
24210 @findex gnus-convert-png-to-face
24211 @code{gnus-convert-png-to-face} takes a 48x48 PNG image, no longer than
24212 726 bytes long, and converts it to a face.
24214 @findex gnus-face-from-file
24215 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-face-command
24216 @code{gnus-face-from-file} takes a JPEG file as the parameter, and then
24217 converts the file to Face format by using the
24218 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-face-command} shell command.
24220 Here's how you would typically use this function. Put something like the
24221 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
24224 (setq message-required-news-headers
24225 (nconc message-required-news-headers
24226 (list '(Face . (lambda ()
24227 (gnus-face-from-file "~/face.jpg"))))))
24232 @subsection Smileys
24237 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
24242 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
24243 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
24245 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
24246 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
24249 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
24252 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{8-)}, @samp{:-(} and
24253 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
24254 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
24255 text and maps that to file names.
24257 @vindex smiley-regexp-alist
24258 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist}
24259 variable. The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched;
24260 the second element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by
24261 the picture; and the third element is the name of the file to be
24264 The following variables customize the appearance of the smileys:
24269 @vindex smiley-style
24270 Specifies the smiley style. Predefined smiley styles include
24271 @code{low-color} (small 13x14 pixel, three-color images), @code{medium}
24272 (more colorful images, 16x16 pixel), and @code{grayscale} (grayscale
24273 images, 14x14 pixel). The default depends on the height of the default
24276 @item smiley-data-directory
24277 @vindex smiley-data-directory
24278 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files. You shouldn't set this
24279 variable anymore. Customize @code{smiley-style} instead.
24281 @item gnus-smiley-file-types
24282 @vindex gnus-smiley-file-types
24283 List of suffixes on smiley file names to try.
24297 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
24298 good way to do so. It's also a great way to impress people staring
24299 over your shoulder as you read news.
24301 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
24310 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
24311 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
24312 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
24313 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
24314 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
24315 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
24316 @code{GIF} formats.
24319 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
24320 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases,
24321 point your Web browser at
24322 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
24324 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
24325 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
24327 To enable displaying picons, simply make sure that
24328 @code{gnus-picon-databases} points to the directory containing the
24331 @vindex gnus-picon-style
24332 The variable @code{gnus-picon-style} controls how picons are displayed.
24333 If @code{inline}, the textual representation is replaced. If
24334 @code{right}, picons are added right to the textual representation.
24336 The following variables offer control over where things are located.
24340 @item gnus-picon-databases
24341 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
24342 The location of the picons database. This is a list of directories
24343 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
24344 subdirectories. Defaults to @code{("/usr/lib/picon"
24345 "/usr/local/faces")}.
24347 @item gnus-picon-news-directories
24348 @vindex gnus-picon-news-directories
24349 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
24350 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
24352 @item gnus-picon-user-directories
24353 @vindex gnus-picon-user-directories
24354 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for user
24355 faces. @code{("users" "usenix" "local" "misc")} is the default.
24357 @item gnus-picon-domain-directories
24358 @vindex gnus-picon-domain-directories
24359 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
24360 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
24361 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
24363 @item gnus-picon-file-types
24364 @vindex gnus-picon-file-types
24365 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
24366 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not built-in your Emacs.
24372 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
24375 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
24376 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
24377 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
24378 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
24379 unusual directory structure.
24381 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
24382 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
24383 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
24388 @subsubsection Toolbar
24392 @item gnus-use-toolbar
24393 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
24394 This variable specifies the position to display the toolbar. If
24395 @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If it is non-@code{nil}, it should
24396 be one of the symbols @code{default}, @code{top}, @code{bottom},
24397 @code{right}, and @code{left}. @code{default} means to use the default
24398 toolbar, the rest mean to display the toolbar on the place which those
24399 names show. The default is @code{default}.
24401 @item gnus-toolbar-thickness
24402 @vindex gnus-toolbar-thickness
24403 Cons of the height and the width specifying the thickness of a toolbar.
24404 The height is used for the toolbar displayed on the top or the bottom,
24405 the width is used for the toolbar displayed on the right or the left.
24406 The default is that of the default toolbar.
24408 @item gnus-group-toolbar
24409 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
24410 The toolbar in the group buffer.
24412 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
24413 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
24414 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
24416 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
24417 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
24418 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
24429 @node Fuzzy Matching
24430 @section Fuzzy Matching
24431 @cindex fuzzy matching
24433 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
24434 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
24436 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
24437 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
24438 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
24440 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
24441 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
24442 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
24443 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
24444 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
24447 @node Thwarting Email Spam
24448 @section Thwarting Email Spam
24452 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
24454 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
24455 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
24456 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
24457 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
24458 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
24459 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
24460 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
24461 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
24464 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
24465 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
24466 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
24467 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
24468 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
24469 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
24471 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
24474 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
24475 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
24476 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
24477 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
24480 @node The problem of spam
24481 @subsection The problem of spam
24483 @cindex spam filtering approaches
24484 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
24486 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
24488 First, some background on spam.
24490 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
24491 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it
24492 exists because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail,
24493 so only a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to
24494 make it worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most
24495 common spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for
24496 further spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers},
24497 but terms like @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, @emph{sociopaths}, and
24498 @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
24500 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
24501 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
24502 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
24503 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
24504 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
24505 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
24506 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
24507 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
24508 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
24511 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering, at the mail
24512 server or when you sort through incoming mail. If you get 200 spam
24513 messages per day from @samp{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you block
24514 @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about @samp{VIAGRA}, you
24515 discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the message. If you get
24516 lots of spam from Bulgaria, for example, you try to filter all mail
24517 from Bulgarian IPs.
24519 This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate e-mail. The
24520 risks of blocking a whole country (Bulgaria, Norway, Nigeria, China,
24521 etc.) or even a continent (Asia, Africa, Europe, etc.) from contacting
24522 you should be obvious, so don't do it if you have the choice.
24524 In another instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest has
24525 been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it @strong{contained}
24526 words that were common in spam messages. Nevertheless, in isolated
24527 cases, with great care, direct filtering of mail can be useful.
24529 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
24530 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
24531 @var{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @var{X} in
24532 Ghana, Estonia, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
24533 @var{N} systems enter @var{X} or the spam e-mail from @var{X} into a
24534 database. The criteria for spam detection vary---it may be the number
24535 of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When a user
24536 of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a message is
24537 spam, he consults one of those @var{N} systems.
24539 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
24540 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
24541 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
24542 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
24543 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
24544 sending spam, and their web sites and mailing lists have been shut
24545 down for some time because of the incident.
24547 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
24548 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
24549 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
24550 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
24551 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
24552 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
24553 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
24554 to store the database of spam analysis. Statistical analysis on the
24555 server is gaining popularity. This has the advantage of letting the
24556 user Just Read Mail, but has the disadvantage that it's harder to tell
24557 the server that it has misclassified mail.
24559 Fighting spam is not easy, no matter what anyone says. There is no
24560 magic switch that will distinguish Viagra ads from Mom's e-mails.
24561 Even people are having a hard time telling spam apart from non-spam,
24562 because spammers are actively looking to fool us into thinking they
24563 are Mom, essentially. Spamming is irritating, irresponsible, and
24564 idiotic behavior from a bunch of people who think the world owes them
24565 a favor. We hope the following sections will help you in fighting the
24568 @node Anti-Spam Basics
24569 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
24573 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
24575 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
24576 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
24578 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
24579 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
24580 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
24581 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
24582 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
24583 part of the mail address.)
24586 (setq message-default-news-headers
24587 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
24590 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
24591 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
24595 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
24596 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
24597 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
24602 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
24603 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
24604 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
24605 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
24607 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @acronym{SMTP} server
24608 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
24609 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
24610 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
24611 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
24612 your fancy split rule in this way:
24617 (to "larsi" "misc")
24621 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
24622 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
24623 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
24624 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
24625 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
24627 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
24628 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
24629 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
24630 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
24632 Be careful with this approach. Spammers are wise to it.
24636 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
24637 @cindex SpamAssassin
24638 @cindex Vipul's Razor
24641 The days where the hints in the previous section were sufficient in
24642 avoiding spam are coming to an end. There are many tools out there
24643 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
24644 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
24645 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
24646 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
24647 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
24649 Note that this section does not involve the @code{spam.el} package,
24650 which is discussed in the next section. If you don't care for all
24651 the features of @code{spam.el}, you can make do with these simple
24654 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
24655 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
24656 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
24657 Specifiers}) follow.
24661 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
24665 "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
24668 Once you manage to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
24669 the mail contain e.g.@: a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
24670 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
24673 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
24677 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
24680 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
24681 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
24685 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
24686 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
24687 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
24688 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
24691 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
24693 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
24697 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
24698 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
24702 Note that with the nnimap back end, message bodies will not be
24703 downloaded by default. You need to set
24704 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
24705 (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}).
24707 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
24708 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
24709 spam. And here is the nifty function:
24712 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
24713 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
24715 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d" t)
24716 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
24720 @subsection Hashcash
24723 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
24724 costly and demonstrably unique for each message they send. This has
24725 the obvious drawback that you cannot rely on everyone in the world
24726 using this technique, since it is not part of the Internet standards,
24727 but it may be useful in smaller communities.
24729 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
24730 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
24731 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
24732 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
24733 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
24734 instead prefers that everyone you contact through e-mail supports the
24735 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
24736 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
24737 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
24738 one of them separately.
24741 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
24742 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
24743 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:} header.
24744 For more details, and for the external application @code{hashcash} you
24745 need to install to use this feature, see
24746 @uref{http://www.hashcash.org/}. Even more information can be found
24747 at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
24749 If you wish to generate hashcash for each message you send, you can
24750 customize @code{message-generate-hashcash} (@pxref{Mail Headers, ,Mail
24751 Headers,message, The Message Manual}), as in:
24754 (setq message-generate-hashcash t)
24757 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
24761 @item hashcash-default-payment
24762 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
24763 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
24764 should consist of. By default this is 20. Suggested useful values
24767 @item hashcash-payment-alist
24768 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
24769 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
24770 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(@var{addr}
24771 @var{amount})} cells, where @var{addr} is the receiver (email address
24772 or newsgroup) and @var{amount} is the number of bits in the collision
24773 that is needed. It can also contain @samp{(@var{addr} @var{string}
24774 @var{amount})} cells, where the @var{string} is the string to use
24775 (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
24777 @item hashcash-path
24778 @vindex hashcash-path
24779 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed. This variable should
24780 be automatically set by @code{executable-find}, but if it's @code{nil}
24781 (usually because the @code{hashcash} binary is not in your path)
24782 you'll get a warning when you check hashcash payments and an error
24783 when you generate hashcash payments.
24787 Gnus can verify hashcash cookies, although this can also be done by
24788 hand customized mail filtering scripts. To verify a hashcash cookie
24789 in a message, use the @code{mail-check-payment} function in the
24790 @code{hashcash.el} library. You can also use the @code{spam.el}
24791 package with the @code{spam-use-hashcash} back end to validate hashcash
24792 cookies in incoming mail and filter mail accordingly (@pxref{Anti-spam
24793 Hashcash Payments}).
24796 @section Spam Package
24797 @cindex spam filtering
24800 The Spam package provides Gnus with a centralized mechanism for
24801 detecting and filtering spam. It filters new mail, and processes
24802 messages according to whether they are spam or ham. (@dfn{Ham} is the
24803 name used throughout this manual to indicate non-spam messages.)
24806 * Spam Package Introduction::
24807 * Filtering Incoming Mail::
24808 * Detecting Spam in Groups::
24809 * Spam and Ham Processors::
24810 * Spam Package Configuration Examples::
24812 * Extending the Spam package::
24813 * Spam Statistics Package::
24816 @node Spam Package Introduction
24817 @subsection Spam Package Introduction
24818 @cindex spam filtering
24819 @cindex spam filtering sequence of events
24822 You must read this section to understand how the Spam package works.
24823 Do not skip, speed-read, or glance through this section.
24825 Make sure you read the section on the @code{spam.el} sequence of
24826 events. See @xref{Extending the Spam package}.
24828 @cindex spam-initialize
24829 @vindex spam-use-stat
24830 To use the Spam package, you @strong{must} first run the function
24831 @code{spam-initialize}:
24837 This autoloads @code{spam.el} and installs the various hooks necessary
24838 to let the Spam package do its job. In order to make use of the Spam
24839 package, you have to set up certain group parameters and variables,
24840 which we will describe below. All of the variables controlling the
24841 Spam package can be found in the @samp{spam} customization group.
24843 There are two ``contact points'' between the Spam package and the rest
24844 of Gnus: checking new mail for spam, and leaving a group.
24846 Checking new mail for spam is done in one of two ways: while splitting
24847 incoming mail, or when you enter a group.
24849 The first way, checking for spam while splitting incoming mail, is
24850 suited to mail back ends such as @code{nnml} or @code{nnimap}, where
24851 new mail appears in a single spool file. The Spam package processes
24852 incoming mail, and sends mail considered to be spam to a designated
24853 ``spam'' group. @xref{Filtering Incoming Mail}.
24855 The second way is suited to back ends such as @code{nntp}, which have
24856 no incoming mail spool, or back ends where the server is in charge of
24857 splitting incoming mail. In this case, when you enter a Gnus group,
24858 the unseen or unread messages in that group are checked for spam.
24859 Detected spam messages are marked as spam. @xref{Detecting Spam in
24862 @cindex spam back ends
24863 In either case, you have to tell the Spam package what method to use
24864 to detect spam messages. There are several methods, or @dfn{spam back
24865 ends} (not to be confused with Gnus back ends!) to choose from: spam
24866 ``blacklists'' and ``whitelists'', dictionary-based filters, and so
24867 forth. @xref{Spam Back Ends}.
24869 In the Gnus summary buffer, messages that have been identified as spam
24870 always appear with a @samp{$} symbol.
24872 The Spam package divides Gnus groups into three categories: ham
24873 groups, spam groups, and unclassified groups. You should mark each of
24874 the groups you subscribe to as either a ham group or a spam group,
24875 using the @code{spam-contents} group parameter (@pxref{Group
24876 Parameters}). Spam groups have a special property: when you enter a
24877 spam group, all unseen articles are marked as spam. Thus, mail split
24878 into a spam group is automatically marked as spam.
24880 Identifying spam messages is only half of the Spam package's job. The
24881 second half comes into play whenever you exit a group buffer. At this
24882 point, the Spam package does several things:
24884 First, it calls @dfn{spam and ham processors} to process the articles
24885 according to whether they are spam or ham. There is a pair of spam
24886 and ham processors associated with each spam back end, and what the
24887 processors do depends on the back end. At present, the main role of
24888 spam and ham processors is for dictionary-based spam filters: they add
24889 the contents of the messages in the group to the filter's dictionary,
24890 to improve its ability to detect future spam. The @code{spam-process}
24891 group parameter specifies what spam processors to use. @xref{Spam and
24894 If the spam filter failed to mark a spam message, you can mark it
24895 yourself, so that the message is processed as spam when you exit the
24905 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
24906 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
24907 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{$} mark
24908 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}).
24912 Similarly, you can unmark an article if it has been erroneously marked
24913 as spam. @xref{Setting Marks}.
24915 Normally, a ham message found in a non-ham group is not processed as
24916 ham---the rationale is that it should be moved into a ham group for
24917 further processing (see below). However, you can force these articles
24918 to be processed as ham by setting
24919 @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} and
24920 @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups}.
24922 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
24923 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
24924 The second thing that the Spam package does when you exit a group is
24925 to move ham articles out of spam groups, and spam articles out of ham
24926 groups. Ham in a spam group is moved to the group specified by the
24927 variable @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}, or the group parameter
24928 @code{ham-process-destination}. Spam in a ham group is moved to the
24929 group specified by the variable @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations},
24930 or the group parameter @code{spam-process-destination}. If these
24931 variables are not set, the articles are left in their current group.
24932 If an article cannot be moved (e.g., with a read-only backend such
24933 as @acronym{NNTP}), it is copied.
24935 If an article is moved to another group, it is processed again when
24936 you visit the new group. Normally, this is not a problem, but if you
24937 want each article to be processed only once, load the
24938 @code{gnus-registry.el} package and set the variable
24939 @code{spam-log-to-registry} to @code{t}. @xref{Spam Package
24940 Configuration Examples}.
24942 Normally, spam groups ignore @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations}.
24943 However, if you set @code{spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only} to
24944 @code{nil}, spam will also be moved out of spam groups, depending on
24945 the @code{spam-process-destination} parameter.
24947 The final thing the Spam package does is to mark spam articles as
24948 expired, which is usually the right thing to do.
24950 If all this seems confusing, don't worry. Soon it will be as natural
24951 as typing Lisp one-liners on a neural interface@dots{} err, sorry, that's
24952 50 years in the future yet. Just trust us, it's not so bad.
24954 @node Filtering Incoming Mail
24955 @subsection Filtering Incoming Mail
24956 @cindex spam filtering
24957 @cindex spam filtering incoming mail
24960 To use the Spam package to filter incoming mail, you must first set up
24961 fancy mail splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}. The Spam package
24962 defines a special splitting function that you can add to your fancy
24963 split variable (either @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
24964 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on your mail back end):
24970 @vindex spam-split-group
24972 The @code{spam-split} function scans incoming mail according to your
24973 chosen spam back end(s), and sends messages identified as spam to a
24974 spam group. By default, the spam group is a group named @samp{spam},
24975 but you can change this by customizing @code{spam-split-group}. Make
24976 sure the contents of @code{spam-split-group} are an unqualified group
24977 name. For instance, in an @code{nnimap} server @samp{your-server},
24978 the value @samp{spam} means @samp{nnimap+your-server:spam}. The value
24979 @samp{nnimap+server:spam} is therefore wrong---it gives the group
24980 @samp{nnimap+your-server:nnimap+server:spam}.
24982 @code{spam-split} does not modify the contents of messages in any way.
24984 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
24985 Note for IMAP users: if you use the @code{spam-check-bogofilter},
24986 @code{spam-check-ifile}, and @code{spam-check-stat} spam back ends,
24987 you should also set set the variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body}
24988 to @code{t}. These spam back ends are most useful when they can
24989 ``scan'' the full message body. By default, the nnimap back end only
24990 retrieves the message headers; @code{nnimap-split-download-body} tells
24991 it to retrieve the message bodies as well. We don't set this by
24992 default because it will slow @acronym{IMAP} down, and that is not an
24993 appropriate decision to make on behalf of the user. @xref{Splitting
24996 You have to specify one or more spam back ends for @code{spam-split}
24997 to use, by setting the @code{spam-use-*} variables. @xref{Spam Back
24998 Ends}. Normally, @code{spam-split} simply uses all the spam back ends
24999 you enabled in this way. However, you can tell @code{spam-split} to
25000 use only some of them. Why this is useful? Suppose you are using the
25001 @code{spam-use-regex-headers} and @code{spam-use-blackholes} spam back
25002 ends, and the following split rule:
25005 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
25006 (any "ding" "ding")
25008 ;; @r{default mailbox}
25013 The problem is that you want all ding messages to make it to the ding
25014 folder. But that will let obvious spam (for example, spam detected by
25015 SpamAssassin, and @code{spam-use-regex-headers}) through, when it's
25016 sent to the ding list. On the other hand, some messages to the ding
25017 list are from a mail server in the blackhole list, so the invocation
25018 of @code{spam-split} can't be before the ding rule.
25020 The solution is to let SpamAssassin headers supersede ding rules, and
25021 perform the other @code{spam-split} rules (including a second
25022 invocation of the regex-headers check) after the ding rule. This is
25023 done by passing a parameter to @code{spam-split}:
25028 ;; @r{spam detected by @code{spam-use-regex-headers} goes to @samp{regex-spam}}
25029 (: spam-split "regex-spam" 'spam-use-regex-headers)
25030 (any "ding" "ding")
25031 ;; @r{all other spam detected by spam-split goes to @code{spam-split-group}}
25033 ;; @r{default mailbox}
25038 This lets you invoke specific @code{spam-split} checks depending on
25039 your particular needs, and target the results of those checks to a
25040 particular spam group. You don't have to throw all mail into all the
25041 spam tests. Another reason why this is nice is that messages to
25042 mailing lists you have rules for don't have to have resource-intensive
25043 blackhole checks performed on them. You could also specify different
25044 spam checks for your nnmail split vs. your nnimap split. Go crazy.
25046 You should set the @code{spam-use-*} variables for whatever spam back
25047 ends you intend to use. The reason is that when loading
25048 @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done depending on what
25049 @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set. @xref{Spam Back Ends}.
25051 @c @emph{TODO: spam.el needs to provide a uniform way of training all the
25052 @c statistical databases. Some have that functionality built-in, others
25055 @node Detecting Spam in Groups
25056 @subsection Detecting Spam in Groups
25058 To detect spam when visiting a group, set the group's
25059 @code{spam-autodetect} and @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group
25060 parameters. These are accessible with @kbd{G c} or @kbd{G p}, as
25061 usual (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
25063 You should set the @code{spam-use-*} variables for whatever spam back
25064 ends you intend to use. The reason is that when loading
25065 @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done depending on what
25066 @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set.
25068 By default, only unseen articles are processed for spam. You can
25069 force Gnus to recheck all messages in the group by setting the
25070 variable @code{spam-autodetect-recheck-messages} to @code{t}.
25072 If you use the @code{spam-autodetect} method of checking for spam, you
25073 can specify different spam detection methods for different groups.
25074 For instance, the @samp{ding} group may have @code{spam-use-BBDB} as
25075 the autodetection method, while the @samp{suspect} group may have the
25076 @code{spam-use-blacklist} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter} methods
25077 enabled. Unlike with @code{spam-split}, you don't have any control
25078 over the @emph{sequence} of checks, but this is probably unimportant.
25080 @node Spam and Ham Processors
25081 @subsection Spam and Ham Processors
25082 @cindex spam filtering
25083 @cindex spam filtering variables
25084 @cindex spam variables
25087 @vindex gnus-spam-process-newsgroups
25088 Spam and ham processors specify special actions to take when you exit
25089 a group buffer. Spam processors act on spam messages, and ham
25090 processors on ham messages. At present, the main role of these
25091 processors is to update the dictionaries of dictionary-based spam back
25092 ends such as Bogofilter (@pxref{Bogofilter}) and the Spam Statistics
25093 package (@pxref{Spam Statistics Filtering}).
25095 The spam and ham processors that apply to each group are determined by
25096 the group's@code{spam-process} group parameter. If this group
25097 parameter is not defined, they are determined by the variable
25098 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups}.
25100 @vindex gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
25101 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
25102 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
25103 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
25104 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
25105 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
25106 by customizing the corresponding variable
25107 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
25108 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
25109 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
25110 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
25111 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
25112 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
25113 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
25116 @vindex gnus-spam-mark
25118 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
25119 they get the @samp{$} mark (@code{gnus-spam-mark}) when you enter the
25120 group. If you have seen a message, had it marked as spam, then
25121 unmarked it, it won't be marked as spam when you enter the group
25122 thereafter. You can disable that behavior, so all unread messages
25123 will get the @samp{$} mark, if you set the
25124 @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam} parameter to @code{nil}. You
25125 should remove the @samp{$} mark when you are in the group summary
25126 buffer for every message that is not spam after all. To remove the
25127 @samp{$} mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to ``unread'' the article, or
25128 @kbd{d} for declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a
25129 group, all spam-marked (@samp{$}) articles are sent to a spam
25130 processor which will study them as spam samples.
25132 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
25133 @code{ham-marks} group parameter gets overridden below, marks @samp{R}
25134 and @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
25135 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
25136 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
25137 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
25138 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
25139 should then adjust the @code{ham-marks} group parameter.
25142 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
25143 marks you want to consider ham. By default, the list contains the
25144 deleted, read, killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks (the idea is
25145 that these articles have been read, but are not spam). It can be
25146 useful to also include the tick mark in the ham marks. It is not
25147 recommended to make the unread mark a ham mark, because it normally
25148 indicates a lack of classification. But you can do it, and we'll be
25153 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
25154 marks you want to consider spam. By default, the list contains only
25155 the spam mark. It is not recommended to change that, but you can if
25156 you really want to.
25159 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
25160 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
25161 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
25162 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
25163 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
25164 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{$},
25167 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
25168 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
25169 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
25170 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
25171 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
25172 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
25173 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
25174 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
25175 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with @kbd{M-x
25176 customize-variable @key{RET} gnus-ham-process-destinations}). Each
25177 group name list is a standard Lisp list, if you prefer to customize
25178 the variable manually. If the @code{ham-process-destination}
25179 parameter is not set, ham articles are left in place. If the
25180 @code{spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group} parameter is
25181 set, the ham articles are marked as unread before being moved.
25183 If ham can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
25184 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
25186 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
25187 expression! This enables you to send your ham to a regular mail
25188 group and to a @emph{ham training} group.
25190 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
25191 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
25193 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups
25194 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} is
25195 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in spam groups
25196 to be processed. Normally this is not done, you are expected instead
25197 to send your ham to a ham group and process it there.
25199 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups
25200 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups} is
25201 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in non-ham (spam
25202 or unclassified) groups to be processed. Normally this is not done,
25203 you are expected instead to send your ham to a ham group and process
25206 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
25207 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
25208 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
25209 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
25210 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
25211 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
25212 customize this variable with @kbd{M-x customize-variable @key{RET}
25213 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). Each group name list is a standard
25214 Lisp list, if you prefer to customize the variable manually. If the
25215 @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set, the spam
25216 articles are only expired. The group name is fully qualified, meaning
25217 that if you see @samp{nntp:servername} before the group name in the
25218 group buffer then you need it here as well.
25220 If spam can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
25221 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
25223 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
25224 expression! This enables you to send your spam to multiple @emph{spam
25227 @vindex spam-log-to-registry
25228 The problem with processing ham and spam is that Gnus doesn't track
25229 this processing by default. Enable the @code{spam-log-to-registry}
25230 variable so @code{spam.el} will use @code{gnus-registry.el} to track
25231 what articles have been processed, and avoid processing articles
25232 multiple times. Keep in mind that if you limit the number of registry
25233 entries, this won't work as well as it does without a limit.
25235 @vindex spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam
25236 Set this variable if you want only unseen articles in spam groups to
25237 be marked as spam. By default, it is set. If you set it to
25238 @code{nil}, unread articles will also be marked as spam.
25240 @vindex spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group
25241 Set this variable if you want ham to be unmarked before it is moved
25242 out of the spam group. This is very useful when you use something
25243 like the tick mark @samp{!} to mark ham---the article will be placed
25244 in your @code{ham-process-destination}, unmarked as if it came fresh
25245 from the mail server.
25247 @vindex spam-autodetect-recheck-messages
25248 When autodetecting spam, this variable tells @code{spam.el} whether
25249 only unseen articles or all unread articles should be checked for
25250 spam. It is recommended that you leave it off.
25252 @node Spam Package Configuration Examples
25253 @subsection Spam Package Configuration Examples
25254 @cindex spam filtering
25255 @cindex spam filtering configuration examples
25256 @cindex spam configuration examples
25259 @subsubheading Ted's setup
25261 From Ted Zlatanov <tzz@@lifelogs.com>.
25263 ;; @r{for @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent} and spam autodetection}
25264 ;; @r{see @file{gnus-registry.el} for more information}
25265 (gnus-registry-initialize)
25269 spam-log-to-registry t ; @r{for spam autodetection}
25271 spam-use-regex-headers t ; @r{catch X-Spam-Flag (SpamAssassin)}
25272 ;; @r{all groups with @samp{spam} in the name contain spam}
25273 gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
25274 '(("spam" gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
25275 ;; @r{see documentation for these}
25276 spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only nil
25277 spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam t
25278 spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group t
25279 nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
25280 ;; @r{understand what this does before you copy it to your own setup!}
25281 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
25282 ;; @r{trace references to parents and put in their group}
25283 (: gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent)
25284 ;; @r{this will catch server-side SpamAssassin tags}
25285 (: spam-split 'spam-use-regex-headers)
25286 (any "ding" "ding")
25287 ;; @r{note that spam by default will go to @samp{spam}}
25289 ;; @r{default mailbox}
25292 ;; @r{my parameters, set with @kbd{G p}}
25294 ;; @r{all nnml groups, and all nnimap groups except}
25295 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} and}
25296 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam}: any spam goes to nnimap training,}
25297 ;; @r{because it must have been detected manually}
25299 ((spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
25301 ;; @r{all @acronym{NNTP} groups}
25302 ;; @r{autodetect spam with the blacklist and ham with the BBDB}
25303 ((spam-autodetect-methods spam-use-blacklist spam-use-BBDB)
25304 ;; @r{send all spam to the training group}
25305 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
25307 ;; @r{only some @acronym{NNTP} groups, where I want to autodetect spam}
25308 ((spam-autodetect . t))
25310 ;; @r{my nnimap @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam} group}
25312 ;; @r{this is a spam group}
25313 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam)
25315 ;; @r{any spam (which happens when I enter for all unseen messages,}
25316 ;; @r{because of the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} setting above), goes to}
25317 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} unless I mark it as ham}
25319 (spam-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train")
25321 ;; @r{any ham goes to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail} folder, but}
25322 ;; @r{also to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham} folder for training}
25324 (ham-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail"
25325 "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham")
25326 ;; @r{in this group, only @samp{!} marks are ham}
25328 (gnus-ticked-mark))
25329 ;; @r{remembers senders in the blacklist on the way out---this is}
25330 ;; @r{definitely not needed, it just makes me feel better}
25331 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist)))
25333 ;; @r{Later, on the @acronym{IMAP} server I use the @samp{train} group for training}
25334 ;; @r{SpamAssassin to recognize spam, and the @samp{trainham} group fora}
25335 ;; @r{recognizing ham---but Gnus has nothing to do with it.}
25339 @subsubheading Using @code{spam.el} on an IMAP server with a statistical filter on the server
25340 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
25342 My provider has set up bogofilter (in combination with @acronym{DCC}) on
25343 the mail server (@acronym{IMAP}). Recognized spam goes to
25344 @samp{spam.detected}, the rest goes through the normal filter rules,
25345 i.e. to @samp{some.folder} or to @samp{INBOX}. Training on false
25346 positives or negatives is done by copying or moving the article to
25347 @samp{training.ham} or @samp{training.spam} respectively. A cron job on
25348 the server feeds those to bogofilter with the suitable ham or spam
25349 options and deletes them from the @samp{training.ham} and
25350 @samp{training.spam} folders.
25352 With the following entries in @code{gnus-parameters}, @code{spam.el}
25353 does most of the job for me:
25356 ("nnimap:spam\\.detected"
25357 (gnus-article-sort-functions '(gnus-article-sort-by-chars))
25358 (ham-process-destination "nnimap:INBOX" "nnimap:training.ham")
25359 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
25360 ("nnimap:\\(INBOX\\|other-folders\\)"
25361 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap:training.spam")
25362 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham))
25367 @item @b{The Spam folder:}
25369 In the folder @samp{spam.detected}, I have to check for false positives
25370 (i.e. legitimate mails, that were wrongly judged as spam by
25371 bogofilter or DCC).
25373 Because of the @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam} entry, all
25374 messages are marked as spam (with @code{$}). When I find a false
25375 positive, I mark the message with some other ham mark
25376 (@code{ham-marks}, @ref{Spam and Ham Processors}). On group exit,
25377 those messages are copied to both groups, @samp{INBOX} (where I want
25378 to have the article) and @samp{training.ham} (for training bogofilter)
25379 and deleted from the @samp{spam.detected} folder.
25381 The @code{gnus-article-sort-by-chars} entry simplifies detection of
25382 false positives for me. I receive lots of worms (sweN, @dots{}), that all
25383 have a similar size. Grouping them by size (i.e. chars) makes finding
25384 other false positives easier. (Of course worms aren't @i{spam}
25385 (@acronym{UCE}, @acronym{UBE}) strictly speaking. Anyhow, bogofilter is
25386 an excellent tool for filtering those unwanted mails for me.)
25388 @item @b{Ham folders:}
25390 In my ham folders, I just hit @kbd{S x}
25391 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) whenever I see an unrecognized spam
25392 mail (false negative). On group exit, those messages are moved to
25393 @samp{training.spam}.
25396 @subsubheading Reporting spam articles in Gmane groups with @code{spam-report.el}
25398 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
25400 With following entry in @code{gnus-parameters}, @kbd{S x}
25401 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) marks articles in @code{gmane.*}
25402 groups as spam and reports the to Gmane at group exit:
25406 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane)))
25409 Additionally, I use @code{(setq spam-report-gmane-use-article-number nil)}
25410 because I don't read the groups directly from news.gmane.org, but
25411 through my local news server (leafnode). I.e. the article numbers are
25412 not the same as on news.gmane.org, thus @code{spam-report.el} has to check
25413 the @code{X-Report-Spam} header to find the correct number.
25415 @node Spam Back Ends
25416 @subsection Spam Back Ends
25417 @cindex spam back ends
25419 The spam package offers a variety of back ends for detecting spam.
25420 Each back end defines a set of methods for detecting spam
25421 (@pxref{Filtering Incoming Mail}, @pxref{Detecting Spam in Groups}),
25422 and a pair of spam and ham processors (@pxref{Spam and Ham
25426 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
25427 * BBDB Whitelists::
25428 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
25429 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
25431 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
25433 * SpamAssassin back end::
25434 * ifile spam filtering::
25435 * Spam Statistics Filtering::
25439 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
25440 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
25441 @cindex spam filtering
25442 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
25443 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
25446 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
25448 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
25449 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
25450 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
25451 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
25456 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
25458 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
25459 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
25460 whitelist will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
25461 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the whitelist, their
25462 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
25466 @defvar spam-use-whitelist-exclusive
25468 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists as an
25469 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
25470 unless the sender is in the whitelist. Use with care.
25474 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
25476 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25477 customizing the group parameters or the
25478 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25479 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
25480 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
25484 Instead of the obsolete
25485 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist}, it is recommended
25486 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-blacklist)}. Everything will work
25487 the same way, we promise.
25491 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
25493 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25494 customizing the group parameters or the
25495 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25496 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
25497 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
25502 Instead of the obsolete
25503 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist}, it is recommended
25504 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-whitelist)}. Everything will work
25505 the same way, we promise.
25509 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
25510 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
25511 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
25512 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
25513 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
25515 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
25516 legitimate. All messages from whitelisted addresses are considered
25517 non-spam. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the
25518 Emacs regular expression syntax.
25520 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
25521 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
25522 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
25523 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
25524 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
25525 @file{blacklist} respectively.
25527 @node BBDB Whitelists
25528 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
25529 @cindex spam filtering
25530 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
25531 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
25534 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
25536 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
25537 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted
25538 addresses, without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded
25539 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Messages whose senders are
25540 not in the BBDB will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
25541 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the BBDB, their
25542 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
25546 @defvar spam-use-BBDB-exclusive
25548 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use the BBDB as an
25549 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
25550 unless the sender is in the BBDB. Use with care. Only sender
25551 addresses in the BBDB will be allowed through; all others will be
25552 classified as spammers.
25554 While @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} @emph{can} be used as an alias
25555 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} as far as @code{spam.el} is concerned, it is
25556 @emph{not} a separate back end. If you set
25557 @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} to t, @emph{all} your BBDB splitting
25562 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
25564 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25565 customizing the group parameters or the
25566 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25567 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
25568 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
25573 Instead of the obsolete
25574 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB}, it is recommended
25575 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-BBDB)}. Everything will work
25576 the same way, we promise.
25580 @node Gmane Spam Reporting
25581 @subsubsection Gmane Spam Reporting
25582 @cindex spam reporting
25583 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
25584 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
25587 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane
25589 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25590 customizing the group parameters or the
25591 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25592 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
25593 articles groups will be reported to the Gmane administrators via a
25596 Gmane can be found at @uref{http://gmane.org}.
25600 Instead of the obsolete
25601 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane}, it is recommended
25602 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-gmane)}. Everything will work the
25603 same way, we promise.
25607 @defvar spam-report-gmane-use-article-number
25609 This variable is @code{t} by default. Set it to @code{nil} if you are
25610 running your own news server, for instance, and the local article
25611 numbers don't correspond to the Gmane article numbers. When
25612 @code{spam-report-gmane-use-article-number} is @code{nil},
25613 @code{spam-report.el} will fetch the number from the article headers.
25617 @defvar spam-report-user-mail-address
25619 Mail address exposed in the User-Agent spam reports to Gmane. It allows
25620 the Gmane administrators to contact you in case of misreports. The
25621 default is @code{user-mail-address}.
25625 @node Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
25626 @subsubsection Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
25627 @cindex spam filtering
25628 @cindex hashcash, spam filtering
25631 @defvar spam-use-hashcash
25633 Similar to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
25634 Whitelists}), but uses hashcash tokens for whitelisting messages
25635 instead of the sender address. Messages without a hashcash payment
25636 token will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an explicit
25637 filter, meaning that unless a hashcash token is found, the messages
25638 are not assumed to be spam or ham.
25643 @subsubsection Blackholes
25644 @cindex spam filtering
25645 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
25648 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
25650 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
25651 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
25652 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
25653 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
25654 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
25655 contains outdated servers.
25657 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
25658 @code{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
25659 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil}. It is not recommended at
25660 this time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil} despite the
25661 possible performance improvements, because some users may be unable to
25662 use it, but you can try it and see if it works for you.
25666 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
25668 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
25672 @defvar spam-blackhole-good-server-regex
25674 A regular expression for IPs that should not be checked against the
25675 blackhole server list. When set to @code{nil}, it has no effect.
25679 @defvar spam-use-dig
25681 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
25682 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
25686 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
25687 ham processor for blackholes.
25689 @node Regular Expressions Header Matching
25690 @subsubsection Regular Expressions Header Matching
25691 @cindex spam filtering
25692 @cindex regular expressions header matching, spam filtering
25695 @defvar spam-use-regex-headers
25697 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus check the
25698 message headers against lists of regular expressions when you set this
25699 option. The variables @code{spam-regex-headers-spam} and
25700 @code{spam-regex-headers-ham} hold the list of regular expressions.
25701 Gnus will check against the message headers to determine if the
25702 message is spam or ham, respectively.
25706 @defvar spam-regex-headers-spam
25708 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
25709 the message, positively identify it as spam.
25713 @defvar spam-regex-headers-ham
25715 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
25716 the message, positively identify it as ham.
25720 Regular expression header checks are done only on incoming mail.
25721 There is no specific spam or ham processor for regular expressions.
25724 @subsubsection Bogofilter
25725 @cindex spam filtering
25726 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
25729 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
25731 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
25734 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{$} mark for spam
25735 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
25736 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
25737 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
25738 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
25739 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
25741 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on a specific
25742 threshold. That threshold can be customized, consult the Bogofilter
25745 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
25746 processing will be turned off.
25748 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
25757 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
25758 Get the Bogofilter spamicity score (@code{spam-bogofilter-score}).
25761 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
25763 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
25764 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
25765 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
25766 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
25767 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
25768 installation documents for details.
25770 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
25774 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
25775 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25776 customizing the group parameters or the
25777 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25778 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
25779 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
25783 Instead of the obsolete
25784 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
25785 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
25786 the same way, we promise.
25789 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
25790 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25791 customizing the group parameters or the
25792 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25793 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
25794 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
25795 of non-spam messages.
25799 Instead of the obsolete
25800 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
25801 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
25802 the same way, we promise.
25805 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
25807 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
25808 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
25809 database directory.
25813 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to @command{ifile} in intent and
25814 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
25815 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
25816 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
25817 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
25818 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
25820 @node SpamAssassin back end
25821 @subsubsection SpamAssassin back end
25822 @cindex spam filtering
25823 @cindex spamassassin, spam filtering
25826 @defvar spam-use-spamassassin
25828 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use SpamAssassin.
25830 SpamAssassin assigns a score to each article based on a set of rules
25831 and tests, including a Bayesian filter. The Bayesian filter can be
25832 trained by associating the @samp{$} mark for spam articles. The
25833 spam score can be viewed by using the command @kbd{S t} in summary
25836 If you set this variable, each article will be processed by
25837 SpamAssassin when @code{spam-split} is called. If your mail is
25838 preprocessed by SpamAssassin, and you want to just use the
25839 SpamAssassin headers, set @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}
25842 You should not enable this if you use
25843 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}.
25847 @defvar spam-use-spamassassin-headers
25849 Set this variable if your mail is preprocessed by SpamAssassin and
25850 want @code{spam-split} to split based on the SpamAssassin headers.
25852 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-spamassassin}.
25856 @defvar spam-spamassassin-program
25858 This variable points to the SpamAssassin executable. If you have
25859 @code{spamd} running, you can set this variable to the @code{spamc}
25860 executable for faster processing. See the SpamAssassin documentation
25861 for more information on @code{spamd}/@code{spamc}.
25865 SpamAssassin is a powerful and flexible spam filter that uses a wide
25866 variety of tests to identify spam. A ham and a spam processors are
25867 provided, plus the @code{spam-use-spamassassin} and
25868 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers} variables to indicate to
25869 spam-split that SpamAssassin should be either used, or has already
25870 been used on the article. The 2.63 version of SpamAssassin was used
25871 to test this functionality.
25873 @node ifile spam filtering
25874 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
25875 @cindex spam filtering
25876 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
25879 @defvar spam-use-ifile
25881 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use @command{ifile}, a
25882 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
25886 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
25888 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
25889 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
25890 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
25894 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
25896 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
25897 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
25898 the default value of @samp{spam}.
25901 @defvar spam-ifile-database
25903 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
25904 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
25908 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
25909 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
25910 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
25911 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
25914 @node Spam Statistics Filtering
25915 @subsubsection Spam Statistics Filtering
25916 @cindex spam filtering
25917 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
25921 This back end uses the Spam Statistics Emacs Lisp package to perform
25922 statistics-based filtering (@pxref{Spam Statistics Package}). Before
25923 using this, you may want to perform some additional steps to
25924 initialize your Spam Statistics dictionary. @xref{Creating a
25925 spam-stat dictionary}.
25927 @defvar spam-use-stat
25931 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
25932 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25933 customizing the group parameters or the
25934 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25935 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
25936 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
25940 Instead of the obsolete
25941 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
25942 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
25943 the same way, we promise.
25946 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
25947 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25948 customizing the group parameters or the
25949 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25950 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
25951 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
25952 of non-spam messages.
25956 Instead of the obsolete
25957 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
25958 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
25959 the same way, we promise.
25962 This enables @code{spam.el} to cooperate with @file{spam-stat.el}.
25963 @file{spam-stat.el} provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database,
25964 which unlike ifile or Bogofilter does not require external programs.
25965 A spam and a ham processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for
25966 @code{spam-split} are provided.
25969 @subsubsection Using SpamOracle with Gnus
25970 @cindex spam filtering
25974 An easy way to filter out spam is to use SpamOracle. SpamOracle is an
25975 statistical mail filtering tool written by Xavier Leroy and needs to be
25976 installed separately.
25978 There are several ways to use SpamOracle with Gnus. In all cases, your
25979 mail is piped through SpamOracle in its @emph{mark} mode. SpamOracle will
25980 then enter an @samp{X-Spam} header indicating whether it regards the
25981 mail as a spam mail or not.
25983 One possibility is to run SpamOracle as a @code{:prescript} from the
25984 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}, (@pxref{SpamAssassin}). This method has
25985 the advantage that the user can see the @emph{X-Spam} headers.
25987 The easiest method is to make @file{spam.el} (@pxref{Spam Package})
25990 @vindex spam-use-spamoracle
25991 To enable SpamOracle usage by @code{spam.el}, set the variable
25992 @code{spam-use-spamoracle} to @code{t} and configure the
25993 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}. @xref{Spam
25994 Package}. In this example the @samp{INBOX} of an nnimap server is
25995 filtered using SpamOracle. Mails recognized as spam mails will be
25996 moved to @code{spam-split-group}, @samp{Junk} in this case. Ham
25997 messages stay in @samp{INBOX}:
26000 (setq spam-use-spamoracle t
26001 spam-split-group "Junk"
26002 nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX")
26003 nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
26004 nnimap-split-fancy '(| (: spam-split) "INBOX"))
26007 @defvar spam-use-spamoracle
26008 Set to @code{t} if you want Gnus to enable spam filtering using
26012 @defvar spam-spamoracle-binary
26013 Gnus uses the SpamOracle binary called @file{spamoracle} found in the
26014 user's PATH. Using the variable @code{spam-spamoracle-binary}, this
26018 @defvar spam-spamoracle-database
26019 By default, SpamOracle uses the file @file{~/.spamoracle.db} as a database to
26020 store its analysis. This is controlled by the variable
26021 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} which defaults to @code{nil}. That means
26022 the default SpamOracle database will be used. In case you want your
26023 database to live somewhere special, set
26024 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} to this path.
26027 SpamOracle employs a statistical algorithm to determine whether a
26028 message is spam or ham. In order to get good results, meaning few
26029 false hits or misses, SpamOracle needs training. SpamOracle learns
26030 the characteristics of your spam mails. Using the @emph{add} mode
26031 (training mode) one has to feed good (ham) and spam mails to
26032 SpamOracle. This can be done by pressing @kbd{|} in the Summary
26033 buffer and pipe the mail to a SpamOracle process or using
26034 @file{spam.el}'s spam- and ham-processors, which is much more
26035 convenient. For a detailed description of spam- and ham-processors,
26036 @xref{Spam Package}.
26038 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle
26039 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
26040 customizing the group parameter or the
26041 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
26042 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles will be
26043 sent to SpamOracle as spam samples.
26047 Instead of the obsolete
26048 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
26049 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
26050 the same way, we promise.
26053 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle
26054 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
26055 customizing the group parameter or the
26056 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
26057 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked articles in
26058 @emph{ham} groups will be sent to the SpamOracle as samples of ham
26063 Instead of the obsolete
26064 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
26065 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
26066 the same way, we promise.
26069 @emph{Example:} These are the Group Parameters of a group that has been
26070 classified as a ham group, meaning that it should only contain ham
26073 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham)
26074 (spam-process ((ham spam-use-spamoracle)
26075 (spam spam-use-spamoracle))))
26077 For this group the @code{spam-use-spamoracle} is installed for both
26078 ham and spam processing. If the group contains spam message
26079 (e.g. because SpamOracle has not had enough sample messages yet) and
26080 the user marks some messages as spam messages, these messages will be
26081 processed by SpamOracle. The processor sends the messages to
26082 SpamOracle as new samples for spam.
26084 @node Extending the Spam package
26085 @subsection Extending the Spam package
26086 @cindex spam filtering
26087 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
26088 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
26090 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
26091 incoming mail, provide the following:
26099 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
26100 "True if blackbox should be used.")
26103 Write @code{spam-check-blackbox} if Blackbox can check incoming mail.
26105 Write @code{spam-blackbox-register-routine} and
26106 @code{spam-blackbox-unregister-routine} using the bogofilter
26107 register/unregister routines as a start, or other restister/unregister
26108 routines more appropriate to Blackbox, if Blackbox can
26109 register/unregister spam and ham.
26114 The @code{spam-check-blackbox} function should return @samp{nil} or
26115 @code{spam-split-group}, observing the other conventions. See the
26116 existing @code{spam-check-*} functions for examples of what you can
26117 do, and stick to the template unless you fully understand the reasons
26122 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
26129 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
26130 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
26132 Also, ham and spam processors are being phased out as single
26133 variables. Instead the form @code{(spam spam-use-blackbox)} or
26134 @code{(ham spam-use-blackbox)} is favored. For now, spam/ham
26135 processor variables are still around but they won't be for long.
26138 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-spam"
26139 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
26140 Only applicable to spam groups.")
26142 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-ham"
26143 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
26144 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
26153 (const :tag "Spam: Blackbox" (spam spam-use-blackbox))
26154 (const :tag "Ham: Blackbox" (ham spam-use-blackbox))
26156 to the @code{spam-process} group parameter in @code{gnus.el}. Make
26157 sure you do it twice, once for the parameter and once for the
26158 variable customization.
26162 (variable-item spam-use-blackbox)
26164 to the @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group parameter in
26165 @code{gnus.el} if Blackbox can check incoming mail for spam contents.
26167 Finally, use the appropriate @code{spam-install-*-backend} function in
26168 @code{spam.el}. Here are the available functions.
26174 @code{spam-install-backend-alias}
26176 This function will simply install an alias for a back end that does
26177 everything like the original back end. It is currently only used to
26178 make @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} act like @code{spam-use-BBDB}.
26181 @code{spam-install-nocheck-backend}
26183 This function installs a back end that has no check function, but can
26184 register/unregister ham or spam. The @code{spam-use-gmane} back end is
26188 @code{spam-install-checkonly-backend}
26190 This function will install a back end that can only check incoming mail
26191 for spam contents. It can't register or unregister messages.
26192 @code{spam-use-blackholes} and @code{spam-use-hashcash} are such
26196 @code{spam-install-statistical-checkonly-backend}
26198 This function installs a statistical back end (one which requires the
26199 full body of a message to check it) that can only check incoming mail
26200 for contents. @code{spam-use-regex-body} is such a filter.
26203 @code{spam-install-statistical-backend}
26205 This function install a statistical back end with incoming checks and
26206 registration/unregistration routines. @code{spam-use-bogofilter} is
26210 @code{spam-install-backend}
26212 This is the most normal back end installation, where a back end that can
26213 check and register/unregister messages is set up without statistical
26214 abilities. The @code{spam-use-BBDB} is such a back end.
26217 @code{spam-install-mover-backend}
26219 Mover back ends are internal to @code{spam.el} and specifically move
26220 articles around when the summary is exited. You will very probably
26221 never install such a back end.
26226 @node Spam Statistics Package
26227 @subsection Spam Statistics Package
26228 @cindex Paul Graham
26229 @cindex Graham, Paul
26230 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
26231 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
26232 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
26234 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
26235 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
26236 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
26237 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
26238 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
26239 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
26240 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
26241 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
26242 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
26245 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
26246 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
26247 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
26248 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
26249 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
26250 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
26251 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
26252 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
26254 The Spam Statistics package adds support to Gnus for this kind of
26255 filtering. It can be used as one of the back ends of the Spam package
26256 (@pxref{Spam Package}), or by itself.
26258 Before using the Spam Statistics package, you need to set it up.
26259 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
26260 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
26261 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
26262 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
26265 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
26266 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
26267 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
26270 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
26271 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
26273 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
26274 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
26275 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
26276 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
26277 need several hundred emails in both collections.
26279 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
26280 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
26281 per mail. Use the following:
26283 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
26284 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
26285 is treated as one spam mail.
26288 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
26289 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
26290 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
26293 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
26294 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds to
26295 the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
26296 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
26297 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds to the group
26298 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
26300 When you are using @acronym{IMAP}, you won't have the mails available
26301 locally, so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent
26302 to cache the articles. Then you can use directories such as
26303 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
26304 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
26307 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics---the
26308 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
26309 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
26310 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
26313 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
26314 reset the dictionary.
26316 @defun spam-stat-reset
26317 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
26320 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
26321 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
26322 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
26323 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
26324 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
26325 only non-spam mails.
26327 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
26328 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
26329 to update the dictionary incrementally.
26332 @defun spam-stat-save
26333 Save the dictionary.
26336 @defvar spam-stat-file
26337 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
26338 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
26341 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
26342 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
26344 This section describes how to use the Spam statistics
26345 @emph{independently} of the @xref{Spam Package}.
26347 First, add the following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
26350 (require 'spam-stat)
26354 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
26357 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
26358 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
26359 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
26360 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
26362 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
26363 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
26364 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
26365 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
26368 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
26369 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
26373 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
26374 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
26377 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
26378 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
26379 expression are considered potential spam.
26382 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
26383 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
26384 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
26388 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
26389 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
26390 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
26391 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
26392 mails, when creating the dictionary!
26395 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
26396 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
26397 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
26401 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
26402 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
26403 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
26404 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
26405 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
26409 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
26410 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
26411 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
26412 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
26417 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
26418 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
26420 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
26422 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
26423 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
26424 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
26427 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
26428 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
26429 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
26432 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
26433 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
26434 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
26435 already been processed as non-spam.
26438 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
26439 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
26440 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
26441 been processed as spam.
26444 @defun spam-stat-save
26445 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
26446 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
26449 @defun spam-stat-load
26450 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
26451 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
26454 @defun spam-stat-score-word
26455 Return the spam score for a word.
26458 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
26459 Return the spam score for a buffer.
26462 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
26463 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
26464 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
26467 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
26468 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
26471 (require 'spam-stat)
26475 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
26478 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
26479 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
26480 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
26481 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
26482 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
26483 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
26484 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
26485 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
26486 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
26487 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
26488 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
26489 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
26490 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
26491 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
26494 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
26497 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
26498 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
26499 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
26500 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
26501 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
26502 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
26506 @section Interaction with other modes
26511 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} provides some useful functions for dired
26512 buffers. It is enabled with
26514 (add-hook 'dired-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-dired-mode)
26519 @findex gnus-dired-attach
26520 @cindex attachments, selection via dired
26521 Send dired's marked files as an attachment (@code{gnus-dired-attach}).
26522 You will be prompted for a message buffer.
26525 @findex gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap
26526 Visit a file according to the appropriate mailcap entry
26527 (@code{gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap}). With prefix, open file in a new
26531 @findex gnus-dired-print
26532 Print file according to the mailcap entry (@code{gnus-dired-print}). If
26533 there is no print command, print in a PostScript image.
26536 @node Various Various
26537 @section Various Various
26543 @item gnus-home-directory
26544 @vindex gnus-home-directory
26545 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
26546 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
26548 @item gnus-directory
26549 @vindex gnus-directory
26550 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
26551 this variable, which defaults to the @env{SAVEDIR} environment
26552 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
26554 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{~/.gnus.el} file is read.
26555 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
26556 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
26557 @file{~/.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
26559 @item gnus-default-directory
26560 @vindex gnus-default-directory
26561 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
26562 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
26563 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
26564 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
26565 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
26566 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
26569 @vindex gnus-verbose
26570 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
26571 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
26572 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
26573 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
26574 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
26576 @item gnus-verbose-backends
26577 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
26578 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
26579 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
26581 @item gnus-add-timestamp-to-message
26582 @vindex gnus-add-timestamp-to-message
26583 This variable controls whether to add timestamps to messages that are
26584 controlled by @code{gnus-verbose} and @code{gnus-verbose-backends} and
26585 are issued. The default value is @code{nil} which means never to add
26586 timestamp. If it is @code{log}, add timestamps to only the messages
26587 that go into the @samp{*Messages*} buffer (in XEmacs, it is the
26588 @w{@samp{ *Message-Log*}} buffer). If it is neither @code{nil} nor
26589 @code{log}, add timestamps not only to log messages but also to the ones
26590 displayed in the echo area.
26592 @item nnheader-max-head-length
26593 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
26594 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
26595 as little as possible. This variable (default 8192) specifies
26596 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
26597 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
26598 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
26599 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
26600 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
26601 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
26603 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
26604 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
26605 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
26606 read when doing the operation described above.
26608 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
26609 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
26611 @cindex invalid characters in file names
26612 @cindex characters in file names
26613 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
26614 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
26615 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
26619 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
26624 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
26625 Windows (phooey) systems.
26627 @item gnus-hidden-properties
26628 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
26629 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
26630 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
26631 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
26633 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
26634 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
26635 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
26636 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
26637 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
26639 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
26640 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
26641 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
26643 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
26644 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
26646 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
26647 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
26648 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
26649 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
26652 @acronym{IMAP} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
26660 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
26661 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
26663 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
26665 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
26671 Not because of victories @*
26674 but for the common sunshine,@*
26676 the largess of the spring.
26680 but for the day's work done@*
26681 as well as I was able;@*
26682 not for a seat upon the dais@*
26683 but at the common table.@*
26688 @chapter Appendices
26691 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
26692 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
26693 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
26694 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
26695 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
26696 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
26697 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
26698 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
26699 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
26706 @cindex installing under XEmacs
26708 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
26709 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
26710 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{mail-lib}, @samp{xemacs-base},
26711 @samp{eterm}, @samp{sh-script}, @samp{net-utils}, @samp{os-utils},
26712 @samp{dired}, @samp{mh-e}, @samp{sieve}, @samp{ps-print}, @samp{W3},
26713 @samp{pgg}, @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{ecrypto}, and @samp{sasl}.
26720 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
26721 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
26723 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
26724 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
26725 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
26726 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
26727 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
26729 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
26730 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
26731 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
26732 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
26733 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
26734 appropriate name, don't you think?)
26736 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
26737 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
26738 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
26739 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
26742 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
26743 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
26744 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
26745 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
26746 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
26747 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
26748 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
26749 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
26750 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
26754 @node Gnus Versions
26755 @subsection Gnus Versions
26757 @cindex September Gnus
26759 @cindex Quassia Gnus
26760 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
26763 @cindex Gnus versions
26765 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
26766 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
26767 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
26769 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
26770 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
26772 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
26773 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
26775 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
26776 It was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
26778 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
26779 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
26782 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun and was released as
26783 Gnus 5.10 on May 1st 2003 (24 releases).
26785 On the January 4th 2004, No Gnus was begun.
26787 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
26788 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
26789 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'', ``No Gnus'' -- don't panic.
26790 Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever
26791 you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach.
26792 Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
26795 @node Other Gnus Versions
26796 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
26799 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
26800 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
26801 Japan. It's based on a library called @acronym{SEMI}, which provides
26802 @acronym{MIME} capabilities.
26804 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
26805 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
26806 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
26807 @acronym{MIME} and multilingualization things, especially important for
26814 What's the point of Gnus?
26816 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
26817 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
26818 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
26819 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
26820 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
26821 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
26822 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
26823 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
26824 keep track of millions of people who post?
26826 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
26827 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
26828 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
26829 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
26830 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
26831 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
26832 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
26833 every one of you to explore and invent.
26835 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
26836 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
26839 @node Compatibility
26840 @subsection Compatibility
26842 @cindex compatibility
26843 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
26844 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
26845 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
26850 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
26854 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
26857 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
26860 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
26861 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
26862 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
26863 important variables have their values copied into their global
26864 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
26865 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
26867 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
26868 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
26869 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
26870 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
26871 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
26875 @cindex highlighting
26876 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
26877 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
26878 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
26879 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
26880 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
26881 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
26884 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
26885 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
26886 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
26887 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
26889 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
26890 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
26891 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
26892 to stop doing it the old way.
26894 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
26896 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
26898 @cindex reporting bugs
26900 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
26901 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
26902 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
26904 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
26905 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
26906 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
26907 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
26912 @subsection Conformity
26914 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
26915 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
26923 There are no known breaches of this standard.
26927 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
26929 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
26930 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
26931 We do have some breaches to this one.
26937 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
26938 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
26939 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
26940 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
26941 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
26946 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
26947 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
26948 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
26949 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
26951 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
26952 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
26953 All the various @acronym{MIME} RFCs are supported.
26955 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
26956 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
26958 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
26961 RFC 1991 is the original @acronym{PGP} message specification,
26962 published as an informational RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now
26963 called Open PGP, and put on the Standards Track. Both document a
26964 non-@acronym{MIME} aware @acronym{PGP} format. Gnus supports both
26965 encoding (signing and encryption) and decoding (verification and
26968 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
26969 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
26970 1991) describes the @acronym{MIME}-wrapping around the RFC 1991/2440 format.
26971 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
26973 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
26974 RFC 2633 describes the @acronym{S/MIME} format.
26976 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
26977 RFC 1730 is @acronym{IMAP} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060
26978 (@acronym{IMAP} 4 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5
26979 authentication for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2086 describes access control
26980 lists (ACLs) for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2359 describes a @acronym{IMAP}
26981 protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper @acronym{TLS}
26982 integration (STARTTLS) with @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 1731 describes the
26983 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @acronym{IMAP}.
26987 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
26988 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
26993 @subsection Emacsen
26999 This version of Gnus should work on:
27007 XEmacs 21.4 and up.
27011 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
27012 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
27013 Emacs versions. Particularly, Gnus 5.10.8 should also work on Emacs
27014 20.7 and XEmacs 21.1.
27016 @c No-merge comment: The paragraph added in v5-10 here must not be
27019 @node Gnus Development
27020 @subsection Gnus Development
27022 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
27023 discussion on the development mailing list @samp{ding@@gnus.org}, where people
27024 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
27025 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
27026 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
27027 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
27028 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
27029 have names like ``Oort Gnus'' and ``No Gnus''. @xref{Gnus Versions}.
27031 After futzing around for 10-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
27032 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
27033 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.10.1'' instead. Normal people are
27034 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
27035 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup. This newgroup is mirrored to the
27036 mailing list @samp{info-gnus-english@@gnu.org} which is carried on Gmane
27037 as @samp{gmane.emacs.gnus.user}. These releases are finally integrated
27041 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
27042 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae,
27043 in particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming}. This is to prevent
27044 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
27045 @xref{Mail Source Customization}.
27047 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
27048 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
27049 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
27050 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
27051 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
27052 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
27053 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
27054 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
27055 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
27056 can't be assumed to do so.
27058 So if you have problems with or questions about the alpha versions,
27059 direct those to the ding mailing list @samp{ding@@gnus.org}. This list
27060 is also available on Gmane as @samp{gmane.emacs.gnus.general}.
27063 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
27064 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae,
27065 in particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming}. This is to prevent
27066 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
27067 @xref{Mail Source Customization}.
27070 @subsection Contributors
27071 @cindex contributors
27073 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
27074 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
27075 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
27076 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
27077 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
27078 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
27079 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
27080 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
27081 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
27082 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
27084 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for@dots{} oops,
27090 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
27093 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
27094 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @acronym{MIME} and
27095 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
27096 functionality and stuff.
27099 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
27100 well as numerous other things).
27103 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
27106 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
27109 Justin Sheehy---the @acronym{FAQ} maintainer.
27112 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
27115 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
27116 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
27119 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
27122 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section.
27125 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
27128 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
27131 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
27134 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
27137 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
27138 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
27141 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
27144 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
27147 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
27150 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
27154 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
27157 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
27160 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
27163 Fran@,{c}ois Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
27164 well as autoconf support.
27168 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
27169 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
27171 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
27186 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
27188 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
27192 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
27202 Alexei V. Barantsev,
27217 Massimo Campostrini,
27222 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
27223 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
27227 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
27230 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
27236 Michael Welsh Duggan,
27241 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
27245 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
27253 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
27255 Michelangelo Grigni,
27259 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
27261 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c Hayashi
27263 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
27271 Fran@,{c}ois Felix Ingrand,
27272 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c Ichikawa
27273 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
27275 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
27285 Peter Skov Knudsen,
27286 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
27288 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
27289 Thor Kristoffersen,
27292 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
27310 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
27311 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
27318 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
27323 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
27327 John McClary Prevost,
27333 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
27338 Christian von Roques,
27341 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
27348 Philippe Schnoebelen,
27350 Randal L. Schwartz,
27364 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
27369 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
27389 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
27390 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
27391 (550kB and counting).
27393 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
27396 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
27397 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
27401 @subsection New Features
27402 @cindex new features
27405 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
27406 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
27407 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
27408 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
27409 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
27410 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
27411 * No Gnus:: Very punny.
27414 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
27415 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
27416 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
27419 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
27421 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
27426 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
27427 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
27430 Local spool and several @acronym{NNTP} servers can be used at once
27431 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
27434 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
27437 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
27438 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
27439 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
27442 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
27443 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
27444 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
27445 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
27448 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
27449 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
27452 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
27453 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
27454 (@pxref{The Active File}).
27457 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
27458 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
27461 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
27462 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
27463 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
27466 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
27467 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
27468 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
27471 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{~/.gnus.el}) to avoid
27472 cluttering up the @file{.emacs} file.
27475 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
27476 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
27479 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
27480 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
27483 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
27484 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
27487 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
27488 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
27491 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
27492 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
27495 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
27498 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
27499 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
27502 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
27503 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
27506 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
27507 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
27510 Gnus can fetch @acronym{FAQ}s and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
27513 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
27514 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
27517 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
27521 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
27525 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
27526 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
27529 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
27535 @node September Gnus
27536 @subsubsection September Gnus
27540 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
27544 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
27549 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
27550 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
27554 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
27555 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
27559 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
27563 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
27564 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
27567 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
27571 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions.
27574 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
27577 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
27580 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
27584 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
27585 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
27588 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
27592 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
27596 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
27600 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
27604 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
27607 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
27608 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
27611 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
27615 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
27616 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
27619 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
27622 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
27623 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
27624 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
27627 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
27631 The Gnus cache is much faster.
27634 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
27638 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
27639 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
27642 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
27643 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
27646 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
27647 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
27650 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
27651 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
27652 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
27655 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
27656 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
27659 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
27662 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
27665 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
27668 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
27671 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
27672 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
27675 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
27679 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
27682 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
27687 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
27690 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
27694 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
27697 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
27701 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
27704 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
27707 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
27708 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
27711 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
27712 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
27716 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
27717 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
27720 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
27724 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
27725 buffer to allow easier treatment.
27728 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
27731 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
27735 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
27739 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
27740 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
27743 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
27747 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
27748 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
27751 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
27752 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
27755 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
27759 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
27762 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
27765 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
27771 @subsubsection Red Gnus
27773 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
27777 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
27784 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
27787 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
27788 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
27791 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
27792 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
27796 Article washing status can be displayed in the
27797 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
27800 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
27803 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
27804 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
27807 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
27811 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
27812 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
27816 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
27817 Server Internals}).
27820 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
27824 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
27827 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
27828 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
27831 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
27832 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
27833 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
27836 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
27837 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
27840 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
27841 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
27844 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
27848 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
27849 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
27852 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
27853 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
27856 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
27860 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
27863 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
27867 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
27868 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
27871 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
27872 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
27875 A new command for reading collections of documents
27876 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
27877 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
27880 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
27884 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @acronym{NNTP}
27885 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
27888 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
27889 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
27890 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
27893 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
27894 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
27898 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
27902 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
27906 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
27911 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
27915 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
27919 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
27920 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
27923 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
27929 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
27931 New features in Gnus 5.6:
27936 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
27937 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added.
27938 @xref{Gnus Unplugged}, for the full story.
27941 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
27942 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
27943 group, which is created automatically.
27946 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
27950 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
27953 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
27954 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
27957 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
27961 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
27964 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
27965 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
27968 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
27971 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. @xref{Symbolic Prefixes}, for
27975 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
27976 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the @file{all.SCORE} file.
27979 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
27980 control over simplification.
27983 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
27986 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
27990 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
27993 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
27996 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
27997 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
27998 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
28001 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
28002 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
28005 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
28009 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
28010 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
28013 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
28014 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @acronym{NNTP} servers.
28017 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
28021 A history of where mails have been split is available.
28024 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
28027 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
28028 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
28031 A new function for citing in Message has been
28032 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
28035 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
28038 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
28042 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
28043 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
28046 The ``lapsed date'' article header can be kept continually
28047 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
28050 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
28053 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
28057 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
28058 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
28060 New features in Gnus 5.8:
28065 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
28066 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
28068 If you used procmail like in
28071 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
28072 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
28073 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
28074 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
28077 this now has changed to
28081 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
28085 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}.
28088 Gnus is now a @acronym{MIME}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
28089 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
28092 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
28093 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
28096 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
28097 called to position point.
28100 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
28101 summary buffers and @acronym{NOV} files.
28104 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
28105 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
28108 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
28109 subtly different manner.
28112 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
28113 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
28114 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
28117 Gnus can now read @acronym{IMAP} mail via @code{nnimap}.
28122 @subsubsection Oort Gnus
28125 New features in Gnus 5.10:
28129 @item Installation changes
28130 @c ***********************
28134 Upgrading from previous (stable) version if you have used Oort.
28136 If you have tried Oort (the unstable Gnus branch leading to this
28137 release) but went back to a stable version, be careful when upgrading to
28138 this version. In particular, you will probably want to remove all
28139 @file{.marks} (nnml) and @file{.mrk} (nnfolder) files, so that flags are
28140 read from your @file{.newsrc.eld} instead of from the
28141 @file{.marks}/@file{.mrk} file where this release store flags. See a
28142 later entry for more information about marks. Note that downgrading
28143 isn't save in general.
28146 Lisp files are now installed in @file{.../site-lisp/gnus/} by default.
28147 It defaulted to @file{.../site-lisp/} formerly. In addition to this,
28148 the new installer issues a warning if other Gnus installations which
28149 will shadow the latest one are detected. You can then remove those
28150 shadows manually or remove them using @code{make
28151 remove-installed-shadows}.
28154 New @file{make.bat} for compiling and installing Gnus under MS Windows
28156 Use @file{make.bat} if you want to install Gnus under MS Windows, the
28157 first argument to the batch-program should be the directory where
28158 @file{xemacs.exe} respectively @file{emacs.exe} is located, if you want
28159 to install Gnus after compiling it, give @file{make.bat} @code{/copy} as
28160 the second parameter.
28162 @file{make.bat} has been rewritten from scratch, it now features
28163 automatic recognition of XEmacs and GNU Emacs, generates
28164 @file{gnus-load.el}, checks if errors occur while compilation and
28165 generation of info files and reports them at the end of the build
28166 process. It now uses @code{makeinfo} if it is available and falls
28167 back to @file{infohack.el} otherwise. @file{make.bat} should now
28168 install all files which are necessary to run Gnus and be generally a
28169 complete replacement for the @code{configure; make; make install}
28170 cycle used under Unix systems.
28172 The new @file{make.bat} makes @file{make-x.bat} and @file{xemacs.mak}
28173 superfluous, so they have been removed.
28176 @file{~/News/overview/} not used.
28178 As a result of the following change, the @file{~/News/overview/}
28179 directory is not used any more. You can safely delete the entire
28182 @c FIXME: `gnus-load' is mentioned in README, which is not included in
28183 @c CVS. We should find a better place for this item.
28185 @code{(require 'gnus-load)}
28187 If you use a stand-alone Gnus distribution, you'd better add
28188 @code{(require 'gnus-load)} into your @file{~/.emacs} after adding the Gnus
28189 lisp directory into load-path.
28191 File @file{gnus-load.el} contains autoload commands, functions and variables,
28192 some of which may not be included in distributions of Emacsen.
28196 @item New packages and libraries within Gnus
28197 @c *****************************************
28202 The revised Gnus @acronym{FAQ} is included in the manual,
28203 @xref{Frequently Asked Questions}.
28206 @acronym{TLS} wrapper shipped with Gnus
28208 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is now supported in @acronym{IMAP} and
28209 @acronym{NNTP} via @file{tls.el} and GNUTLS. The old
28210 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} support via (external third party)
28211 @file{ssl.el} and OpenSSL still works.
28214 Improved anti-spam features.
28216 Gnus is now able to take out spam from your mail and news streams
28217 using a wide variety of programs and filter rules. Among the supported
28218 methods are RBL blocklists, bogofilter and white/blacklists. Hooks
28219 for easy use of external packages such as SpamAssassin and Hashcash
28220 are also new. @ref{Thwarting Email Spam} and @ref{Spam Package}.
28221 @c FIXME: @xref{Spam Package}?. Should this be under Misc?
28224 Gnus supports server-side mail filtering using Sieve.
28226 Sieve rules can be added as Group Parameters for groups, and the
28227 complete Sieve script is generated using @kbd{D g} from the Group
28228 buffer, and then uploaded to the server using @kbd{C-c C-l} in the
28229 generated Sieve buffer. @xref{Sieve Commands}, and the new Sieve
28230 manual @ref{Top, , Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
28234 @item Changes in group mode
28235 @c ************************
28240 @code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group} can be called interactively,
28244 Retrieval of charters and control messages
28246 There are new commands for fetching newsgroup charters (@kbd{H c}) and
28247 control messages (@kbd{H C}).
28250 The new variable @code{gnus-parameters} can be used to set group parameters.
28252 Earlier this was done only via @kbd{G p} (or @kbd{G c}), which stored
28253 the parameters in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, but via this variable you can
28254 enjoy the powers of customize, and simplified backups since you set the
28255 variable in @file{~/.gnus.el} instead of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. The
28256 variable maps regular expressions matching group names to group
28259 (setq gnus-parameters
28261 (gnus-show-threads nil)
28262 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
28263 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
28264 (to-group . "\\1"))))
28268 Unread count correct in nnimap groups.
28270 The estimated number of unread articles in the group buffer should now
28271 be correct for nnimap groups. This is achieved by calling
28272 @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} from the
28273 @code{gnus-setup-news-hook} (called on startup) and
28274 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook}. (called after getting new
28275 mail). If you have modified those variables from the default, you may
28276 want to add @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} again. If
28277 you were happy with the estimate and want to save some (minimal) time
28278 when getting new mail, remove the function.
28281 Group names are treated as UTF-8 by default.
28283 This is supposedly what USEFOR wanted to migrate to. See
28284 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} and
28285 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} for customization.
28288 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} and
28289 @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
28291 The regexps in these variables are compared with full group names
28292 instead of real group names in 5.8. Users who customize these
28293 variables should change those regexps accordingly. For example:
28295 ("^han\\>" euc-kr) -> ("\\(^\\|:\\)han\\>" euc-kr)
28299 Old intermediate incoming mail files (@file{Incoming*}) are deleted
28300 after a couple of days, not immediately. @xref{Mail Source
28301 Customization}. (New in Gnus 5.10.10 / Emacs 22.2)
28305 @item Changes in summary and article mode
28306 @c **************************************
28311 @kbd{F} (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}) and @kbd{R}
28312 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}) only yank the text in the
28313 region if the region is active.
28316 In draft groups, @kbd{e} is now bound to @code{gnus-draft-edit-message}.
28317 Use @kbd{B w} for @code{gnus-summary-edit-article} instead.
28322 More buttons for URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man
28323 pages and Emacs or Gnus related references. @xref{Article Buttons}. The
28324 variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} can be used to control the
28325 appearance of all article buttons. @xref{Article Button Levels}.
28328 Single-part yenc encoded attachments can be decoded.
28333 The picons code has been reimplemented to work in GNU Emacs---some of
28334 the previous options have been removed or renamed.
28336 Picons are small ``personal icons'' representing users, domain and
28337 newsgroups, which can be displayed in the Article buffer.
28341 If the new option @code{gnus-treat-body-boundary} is non-@code{nil}, a
28342 boundary line is drawn at the end of the headers.
28345 Signed article headers (X-PGP-Sig) can be verified with @kbd{W p}.
28348 The Summary Buffer uses an arrow in the fringe to indicate the current
28349 article. Use @code{(setq gnus-summary-display-arrow nil)} to disable it.
28352 Warn about email replies to news
28354 Do you often find yourself replying to news by email by mistake? Then
28355 the new option @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} is just the thing for
28359 If the new option @code{gnus-summary-display-while-building} is
28360 non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer is shown and updated as it's being
28364 The new @code{recent} mark @samp{.} indicates newly arrived messages (as
28365 opposed to old but unread messages).
28368 Gnus supports RFC 2369 mailing list headers, and adds a number of
28369 related commands in mailing list groups. @xref{Mailing List}.
28372 The Date header can be displayed in a format that can be read aloud
28373 in English. @xref{Article Date}.
28376 diffs are automatically highlighted in groups matching
28377 @code{mm-uu-diff-groups-regexp}
28380 Better handling of Microsoft citation styles
28382 Gnus now tries to recognize the mangled header block that some Microsoft
28383 mailers use to indicate that the rest of the message is a citation, even
28384 though it is not quoted in any way. The variable
28385 @code{gnus-cite-unsightly-citation-regexp} matches the start of these
28388 The new command @kbd{W Y f}
28389 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}) allows deuglifying broken
28390 Outlook (Express) articles.
28393 @code{gnus-article-skip-boring}
28395 If you set @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} to @code{t}, then Gnus will
28396 not scroll down to show you a page that contains only boring text,
28397 which by default means cited text and signature. You can customize
28398 what is skippable using @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}.
28400 This feature is especially useful if you read many articles that
28401 consist of a little new content at the top with a long, untrimmed
28402 message cited below.
28405 Smileys (@samp{:-)}, @samp{;-)} etc) are now displayed graphically in
28408 Put @code{(setq gnus-treat-display-smileys nil)} in @file{~/.gnus.el} to
28412 Face headers handling. @xref{Face}.
28415 In the summary buffer, the new command @kbd{/ N} inserts new messages
28416 and @kbd{/ o} inserts old messages.
28419 Gnus decodes morse encoded messages if you press @kbd{W m}.
28422 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}
28424 The default value changed to @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%)
28425 %s\n}. Moreover @code{gnus-extra-headers},
28426 @code{nnmail-extra-headers} and @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses}
28427 changed their default so that the users name will be replaced by the
28428 recipient's name or the group name posting to for @acronym{NNTP}
28432 Deleting of attachments.
28434 The command @code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip} (bound to @kbd{C-o}
28435 on @acronym{MIME} buttons) saves a part and replaces the part with an
28436 external one. @code{gnus-mime-delete-part} (bound to @kbd{d} on
28437 @acronym{MIME} buttons) removes a part. It works only on back ends
28438 that support editing.
28441 @code{gnus-default-charset}
28443 The default value is determined from the
28444 @code{current-language-environment} variable, instead of
28445 @code{iso-8859-1}. Also the @samp{.*} item in
28446 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} is removed.
28449 Printing capabilities are enhanced.
28451 Gnus supports Muttprint natively with @kbd{O P} from the Summary and
28452 Article buffers. Also, each individual @acronym{MIME} part can be
28453 printed using @kbd{p} on the @acronym{MIME} button.
28456 Extended format specs.
28458 Format spec @samp{%&user-date;} is added into
28459 @code{gnus-summary-line-format-alist}. Also, user defined extended
28460 format specs are supported. The extended format specs look like
28461 @samp{%u&foo;}, which invokes function
28462 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{foo}}. Because @samp{&} is used as the
28463 escape character, old user defined format @samp{%u&} is no longer supported.
28466 @kbd{/ *} (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}) is rewritten.
28467 @c FIXME: Was this a user-visible change?
28469 It was aliased to @kbd{Y c}
28470 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}). The new function filters
28471 out other articles.
28474 Some limiting commands accept a @kbd{C-u} prefix to negate the match.
28476 If @kbd{C-u} is used on subject, author or extra headers, i.e., @kbd{/
28477 s}, @kbd{/ a}, and @kbd{/ x}
28478 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-@{subject,author,extra@}}) respectively, the
28479 result will be to display all articles that do not match the expression.
28482 Gnus inlines external parts (message/external).
28486 @item Changes in Message mode and related Gnus features
28487 @c ****************************************************
28494 You can delay the sending of a message with @kbd{C-c C-j} in the Message
28495 buffer. The messages are delivered at specified time. This is useful
28496 for sending yourself reminders. @xref{Delayed Articles}.
28499 If the new option @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil},
28500 the nnml back end allows compressed message files.
28503 The new option @code{gnus-gcc-mark-as-read} automatically marks
28504 Gcc articles as read.
28507 Externalizing of attachments
28509 If @code{gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments} or
28510 @code{message-fcc-externalize-attachments} is non-@code{nil}, attach
28511 local files as external parts.
28514 The envelope sender address can be customized when using Sendmail.
28515 @xref{Mail Variables, Mail Variables,, message, Message Manual}.
28518 Gnus no longer generate the Sender: header automatically.
28520 Earlier it was generated when the user configurable email address was
28521 different from the Gnus guessed default user address. As the guessing
28522 algorithm is rarely correct these days, and (more controversially) the
28523 only use of the Sender: header was to check if you are entitled to
28524 cancel/supersede news (which is now solved by Cancel Locks instead,
28525 see another entry), generation of the header has been disabled by
28526 default. See the variables @code{message-required-headers},
28527 @code{message-required-news-headers}, and
28528 @code{message-required-mail-headers}.
28531 Features from third party @file{message-utils.el} added to @file{message.el}.
28533 Message now asks if you wish to remove @samp{(was: <old subject>)} from
28534 subject lines (see @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query}). @kbd{C-c
28535 M-m} and @kbd{C-c M-f} inserts markers indicating included text.
28536 @kbd{C-c C-f a} adds a X-No-Archive: header. @kbd{C-c C-f x} inserts
28537 appropriate headers and a note in the body for cross-postings and
28538 followups (see the variables @code{message-cross-post-@var{*}}).
28541 References and X-Draft-From headers are no longer generated when you
28542 start composing messages and @code{message-generate-headers-first} is
28546 Easy inclusion of X-Faces headers. @xref{X-Face}.
28549 Group Carbon Copy (GCC) quoting
28551 To support groups that contains SPC and other weird characters, groups
28552 are quoted before they are placed in the Gcc: header. This means
28553 variables such as @code{gnus-message-archive-group} should no longer
28554 contain quote characters to make groups containing SPC work. Also, if
28555 you are using the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar} (indicating Gcc
28556 into two groups) you must change it to return the list
28557 @code{("nnml:foo" "nnml:bar")}, otherwise the Gcc: line will be quoted
28558 incorrectly. Note that returning the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar}
28559 was incorrect earlier, it just didn't generate any problems since it
28560 was inserted directly.
28563 @code{message-insinuate-rmail}
28565 Adding @code{(message-insinuate-rmail)} and @code{(setq
28566 mail-user-agent 'gnus-user-agent)} in @file{.emacs} convinces Rmail to
28567 compose, reply and forward messages in message-mode, where you can
28568 enjoy the power of @acronym{MML}.
28571 @code{message-minibuffer-local-map}
28573 The line below enables BBDB in resending a message:
28575 (define-key message-minibuffer-local-map [(tab)]
28576 'bbdb-complete-name)
28580 @code{gnus-posting-styles}
28582 Add a new format of match like
28584 ((header "to" "larsi.*org")
28585 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
28587 The old format like the lines below is obsolete, but still accepted.
28589 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
28590 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
28594 @code{message-ignored-news-headers} and @code{message-ignored-mail-headers}
28596 @samp{X-Draft-From} and @samp{X-Gnus-Agent-Meta-Information} have been
28597 added into these two variables. If you customized those, perhaps you
28598 need add those two headers too.
28601 Gnus supports the ``format=flowed'' (RFC 2646) parameter. On
28602 composing messages, it is enabled by @code{use-hard-newlines}.
28603 Decoding format=flowed was present but not documented in earlier
28607 The option @code{mm-fill-flowed} can be used to disable treatment of
28608 ``format=flowed'' messages. Also, flowed text is disabled when sending
28609 inline PGP signed messages. @xref{Flowed text, , Flowed text,
28610 emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
28611 @c This entry is also present in the node "No Gnus".
28614 Gnus supports the generation of RFC 2298 Disposition Notification requests.
28616 This is invoked with the @kbd{C-c M-n} key binding from message mode.
28619 Message supports the Importance: (RFC 2156) header.
28621 In the message buffer, @kbd{C-c C-f C-i} or @kbd{C-c C-u} cycles through
28625 Gnus supports Cancel Locks in News.
28627 This means a header @samp{Cancel-Lock} is inserted in news posting. It is
28628 used to determine if you wrote an article or not (for canceling and
28629 superseding). Gnus generates a random password string the first time
28630 you post a message, and saves it in your @file{~/.emacs} using the Custom
28631 system. While the variable is called @code{canlock-password}, it is not
28632 security sensitive data. Publishing your canlock string on the web
28633 will not allow anyone to be able to anything she could not already do.
28634 The behavior can be changed by customizing @code{message-insert-canlock}.
28637 Gnus supports @acronym{PGP} (RFC 1991/2440), @acronym{PGP/MIME} (RFC
28638 2015/3156) and @acronym{S/MIME} (RFC 2630-2633).
28640 It needs an external @acronym{S/MIME} and OpenPGP implementation, but no
28641 additional Lisp libraries. This add several menu items to the
28642 Attachments menu, and @kbd{C-c RET} key bindings, when composing
28643 messages. This also obsoletes @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook}.
28646 @acronym{MML} (Mime compose) prefix changed from @kbd{M-m} to @kbd{C-c
28649 This change was made to avoid conflict with the standard binding of
28650 @code{back-to-indentation}, which is also useful in message mode.
28653 The default for @code{message-forward-show-mml} changed to the symbol
28656 The behavior for the @code{best} value is to show @acronym{MML} (i.e.,
28657 convert to @acronym{MIME}) when appropriate. @acronym{MML} will not be
28658 used when forwarding signed or encrypted messages, as the conversion
28659 invalidate the digital signature.
28662 If @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled, attachments are automatically
28663 decompressed when activated.
28664 @c FIXME: Does this affect article or message mode?
28667 Support for non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names
28669 Message supports non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To: and
28670 Cc: and will query you whether to perform encoding when you try to
28671 send a message. The variable @code{message-use-idna} controls this.
28672 Gnus will also decode non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To:
28673 and Cc: when you view a message. The variable @code{gnus-use-idna}
28676 @item You can now drag and drop attachments to the Message buffer.
28677 See @code{mml-dnd-protocol-alist} and @code{mml-dnd-attach-options}.
28678 @xref{MIME, ,MIME, message, Message Manual}.
28679 @c New in 5.10.9 / 5.11 (Emacs 22.1)
28681 @item @code{auto-fill-mode} is enabled by default in Message mode.
28682 See @code{message-fill-column}. @xref{Various Message Variables, ,
28683 Message Headers, message, Message Manual}.
28684 @c New in Gnus 5.10.12 / 5.11 (Emacs 22.3)
28688 @item Changes in back ends
28689 @c ***********************
28693 Gnus can display RSS newsfeeds as a newsgroup. @xref{RSS}.
28696 The nndoc back end now supports mailman digests and exim bounces.
28699 Gnus supports Maildir groups.
28701 Gnus includes a new back end @file{nnmaildir.el}. @xref{Maildir}.
28704 The nnml and nnfolder back ends store marks for each groups.
28706 This makes it possible to take backup of nnml/nnfolder servers/groups
28707 separately of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, while preserving marks. It also
28708 makes it possible to share articles and marks between users (without
28709 sharing the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file) within e.g. a department. It
28710 works by storing the marks stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld} in a per-group
28711 file @file{.marks} (for nnml) and @file{@var{groupname}.mrk} (for
28712 nnfolder, named @var{groupname}). If the nnml/nnfolder is moved to
28713 another machine, Gnus will automatically use the @file{.marks} or
28714 @file{.mrk} file instead of the information in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
28715 The new server variables @code{nnml-marks-is-evil} and
28716 @code{nnfolder-marks-is-evil} can be used to disable this feature.
28726 The menu bar item (in Group and Summary buffer) named ``Misc'' has
28727 been renamed to ``Gnus''.
28730 The menu bar item (in Message mode) named ``@acronym{MML}'' has been
28731 renamed to ``Attachments''. Note that this menu also contains security
28732 related stuff, like signing and encryption (@pxref{Security, Security,,
28733 message, Message Manual}).
28736 The tool bars have been updated to use GNOME icons in Group, Summary and
28737 Message mode. You can also customize the tool bars: @kbd{M-x
28738 customize-apropos RET -tool-bar$} should get you started. This is a new
28739 feature in Gnus 5.10.10. (Only for Emacs, not in XEmacs.)
28741 @item The tool bar icons are now (de)activated correctly
28742 in the group buffer, see the variable @code{gnus-group-update-tool-bar}.
28743 Its default value depends on your Emacs version. This is a new feature
28748 @item Miscellaneous changes
28749 @c ************************
28756 The Gnus Agent has seen a major updated and is now enabled by default,
28757 and all nntp and nnimap servers from @code{gnus-select-method} and
28758 @code{gnus-secondary-select-method} are agentized by default. Earlier
28759 only the server in @code{gnus-select-method} was agentized by the
28760 default, and the agent was disabled by default. When the agent is
28761 enabled, headers are now also retrieved from the Agent cache instead
28762 of the back ends when possible. Earlier this only happened in the
28763 unplugged state. You can enroll or remove servers with @kbd{J a} and
28764 @kbd{J r} in the server buffer. Gnus will not download articles into
28765 the Agent cache, unless you instruct it to do so, though, by using
28766 @kbd{J u} or @kbd{J s} from the Group buffer. You revert to the old
28767 behavior of having the Agent disabled with @code{(setq gnus-agent
28768 nil)}. Note that putting @code{(gnus-agentize)} in @file{~/.gnus.el}
28769 is not needed any more.
28772 Gnus reads the @acronym{NOV} and articles in the Agent if plugged.
28774 If one reads an article while plugged, and the article already exists
28775 in the Agent, it won't get downloaded once more. @code{(setq
28776 gnus-agent-cache nil)} reverts to the old behavior.
28781 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} (see @ref{Other modes}) installs key
28782 bindings in dired buffers to send a file as an attachment, open a file
28783 using the appropriate mailcap entry, and print a file using the mailcap
28787 The format spec @code{%C} for positioning point has changed to @code{%*}.
28790 @code{gnus-slave-unplugged}
28792 A new command which starts Gnus offline in slave mode.
28799 @subsubsection No Gnus
28802 New features in No Gnus:
28803 @c FIXME: Gnus 5.12?
28805 @include gnus-news.texi
28811 @section The Manual
28815 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
28816 either @code{texi2dvi}
28818 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
28819 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
28821 to get what you hold in your hands now.
28823 The following conventions have been used:
28828 This is a @samp{string}
28831 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
28834 This is a @file{file}
28837 This is a @code{symbol}
28841 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
28845 (setq flargnoze "yes")
28848 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
28851 (setq flumphel 'yes)
28854 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
28855 ever get them confused.
28859 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
28860 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
28861 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
28862 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
28863 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
28864 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
28865 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
28871 @node On Writing Manuals
28872 @section On Writing Manuals
28874 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
28875 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
28876 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
28877 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
28878 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
28879 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code go hand
28882 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
28883 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
28884 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
28887 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
28888 reference manual as source material. It would look quite different.
28893 @section Terminology
28895 @cindex terminology
28900 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
28901 News is generally fetched from a nearby @acronym{NNTP} server, and is
28902 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
28903 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
28904 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
28908 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
28909 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
28910 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
28911 not posting, and replying is not following up.
28915 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
28919 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
28924 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
28925 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
28926 commonly fetched via the protocol @acronym{NNTP}, whereas mail
28927 messages could be read from a file on the local disk. The internal
28928 architecture of Gnus thus comprises a ``front end'' and a number of
28929 ``back ends''. Internally, when you enter a group (by hitting
28930 @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke a function in the front end in
28931 Gnus. The front end then ``talks'' to a back end and says things like
28932 ``Give me the list of articles in the foo group'' or ``Show me article
28935 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back
28936 end accesses news via @acronym{NNTP}, the @code{nnimap} back end
28937 accesses mail via @acronym{IMAP}) or a file format and directory
28938 layout (the @code{nnspool} back end accesses news via the common
28939 ``spool directory'' format, the @code{nnml} back end access mail via a
28940 file format and directory layout that's quite similar).
28942 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
28943 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
28944 access the articles.
28946 However, sometimes the term ``back end'' is also used where ``server''
28947 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term ``select
28948 method'' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
28953 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
28954 default, way of getting news.
28958 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
28959 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
28964 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
28965 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
28969 A message that has been posted as news.
28972 @cindex mail message
28973 A message that has been mailed.
28977 A mail message or news article
28981 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
28986 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
28991 A line from the head of an article.
28995 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
28996 collection of @acronym{NOV} lines.
28998 @item @acronym{NOV}
28999 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
29000 @acronym{NOV} stands for News OverView, which is a type of news server
29001 header which provide datas containing the condensed header information
29002 of articles. They are produced by the server itself; in the @code{nntp}
29003 back end Gnus uses the ones that the @acronym{NNTP} server makes, but
29004 Gnus makes them by itself for some backends (in particular, @code{nnml}).
29006 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
29007 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
29008 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
29009 normal @sc{head} format.
29011 The @acronym{NOV} data consist of one or more text lines (@pxref{Text
29012 Lines, ,Motion by Text Lines, elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual})
29013 where each line has the header information of one article. The header
29014 information is a tab-separated series of the header's contents including
29015 an article number, a subject, an author, a date, a message-id,
29018 Those data enable Gnus to generate summary lines quickly. However, if
29019 the server does not support @acronym{NOV} or you disable it purposely or
29020 for some reason, Gnus will try to generate the header information by
29021 parsing each article's headers one by one. It will take time.
29022 Therefore, it is not usually a good idea to set nn*-nov-is-evil
29023 (@pxref{Slow/Expensive Connection}) to a non-@code{nil} value unless you
29024 know that the server makes wrong @acronym{NOV} data.
29028 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
29029 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
29030 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
29031 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
29032 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
29033 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
29035 @item killed groups
29036 @cindex killed groups
29037 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
29038 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
29040 @item zombie groups
29041 @cindex zombie groups
29042 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
29045 @cindex active file
29046 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
29047 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
29048 is rather large, as you might surmise.
29051 @cindex bogus groups
29052 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
29053 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
29054 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
29057 @cindex activating groups
29058 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
29059 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
29060 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
29064 News servers store their articles locally in one fashion or other.
29065 One old-fashioned storage method is to have just one file per
29066 article. That's called a ``traditional spool''.
29070 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
29072 @item select method
29073 @cindex select method
29074 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
29077 @item virtual server
29078 @cindex virtual server
29079 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
29080 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
29081 whole is a virtual server.
29085 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
29086 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
29089 @item ephemeral groups
29090 @cindex ephemeral groups
29091 @cindex temporary groups
29092 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
29093 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
29094 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
29097 @cindex solid groups
29098 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
29099 group buffer are solid groups.
29101 @item sparse articles
29102 @cindex sparse articles
29103 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
29104 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
29108 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
29109 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
29113 @cindex thread root
29114 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
29115 articles in the thread.
29119 An article that has responses.
29123 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
29127 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
29128 specified by RFC 1153.
29131 @cindex splitting, terminology
29132 @cindex mail sorting
29133 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
29134 The action of sorting your emails according to certain rules. Sometimes
29135 incorrectly called mail filtering.
29141 @node Customization
29142 @section Customization
29143 @cindex general customization
29145 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
29146 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
29147 for some quite common situations.
29150 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
29151 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
29152 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
29153 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
29157 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
29158 @subsection Slow/Expensive Connection
29160 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
29161 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
29162 Gnus has to get from the server.
29166 @item gnus-read-active-file
29167 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
29168 entire active file from the server. This file is often very large. You
29169 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
29170 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
29171 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
29173 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
29174 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
29175 Usually this one must @emph{always} be @code{nil} (which is the
29176 default). If, for example, you wish to not use @acronym{NOV}
29177 (@pxref{Terminology}) with the @code{nntp} back end (@pxref{Crosspost
29178 Handling}), set @code{nntp-nov-is-evil} to a non-@code{nil} value
29179 instead of setting this. But you normally do not need to set
29180 @code{nntp-nov-is-evil} since Gnus by itself will detect whether the
29181 @acronym{NNTP} server supports @acronym{NOV}. Anyway, grabbing article
29182 headers from the @acronym{NNTP} server will not be very fast if you tell
29183 Gnus not to use @acronym{NOV}.
29185 As the variables for the other back ends, there are
29186 @code{nndiary-nov-is-evil}, @code{nndir-nov-is-evil},
29187 @code{nnfolder-nov-is-evil}, @code{nnimap-nov-is-evil},
29188 @code{nnml-nov-is-evil}, @code{nnspool-nov-is-evil}, and
29189 @code{nnwarchive-nov-is-evil}. Note that a non-@code{nil} value for
29190 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} overrides all those variables.@footnote{Although
29191 the back ends @code{nnkiboze}, @code{nnslashdot}, @code{nnultimate}, and
29192 @code{nnwfm} don't have their own nn*-nov-is-evil.}
29196 @node Slow Terminal Connection
29197 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
29199 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
29200 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
29201 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
29205 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
29206 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
29207 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
29208 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
29209 horizontal and vertical recentering.
29211 @item gnus-visible-headers
29212 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
29213 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
29214 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
29215 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
29217 Use the following to enable all the available hiding features:
29219 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
29220 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
29221 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
29224 @item gnus-use-full-window
29225 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
29226 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
29227 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
29228 want to read them anyway.
29230 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
29231 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
29235 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
29236 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
29237 lines, which might save some time.
29241 @node Little Disk Space
29242 @subsection Little Disk Space
29245 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
29246 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
29250 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
29251 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
29252 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
29253 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
29256 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
29257 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
29258 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
29259 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
29262 @item gnus-save-killed-list
29263 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
29264 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
29265 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
29266 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
29272 @subsection Slow Machine
29273 @cindex slow machine
29275 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
29276 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
29278 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
29279 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
29281 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
29282 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
29283 summary buffer faster. Also @pxref{Slow/Expensive Connection}.
29287 @node Troubleshooting
29288 @section Troubleshooting
29289 @cindex troubleshooting
29291 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
29299 Make sure your computer is switched on.
29302 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
29303 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
29307 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
29309 @samp{No Gnus v0.10} @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change this line!
29311 you have the right files loaded. Otherwise you have some old @file{.el}
29312 files lying around. Delete these.
29315 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a
29316 @acronym{FAQ} and a how-to.
29319 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
29320 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
29321 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
29322 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
29323 something like that.
29326 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
29329 @cindex reporting bugs
29331 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
29333 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
29334 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
29335 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
29336 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
29338 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
29339 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
29340 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
29341 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
29344 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
29345 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
29346 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
29347 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
29348 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
29349 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
29351 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
29352 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
29353 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
29357 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
29358 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
29361 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
29362 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
29363 edebug. Debugging Lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
29364 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
29365 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
29366 you discover some weird behavior when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
29367 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
29368 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
29369 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
29370 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
29371 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
29372 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
29373 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
29374 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
29379 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate an elisp error but
29380 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
29381 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press @kbd{C-g} when things are
29382 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
29383 helps isolating the real problem areas).
29385 A fancier approach is to use the elisp profiler, ELP. The profiler is
29386 (or should be) fully documented elsewhere, but to get you started
29387 there are a few steps that need to be followed. First, instrument the
29388 part of Gnus you are interested in for profiling, e.g. @kbd{M-x
29389 elp-instrument-package RET gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package
29390 RET message}. Then perform the operation that is slow and press
29391 @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will then see which operations that takes
29392 time, and can debug them further. If the entire operation takes much
29393 longer than the time spent in the slowest function in the profiler
29394 output, you probably profiled the wrong part of Gnus. To reset
29395 profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x
29396 elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove profiling, but given the
29397 complexities and dynamic code generation in Gnus, it might not always
29400 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
29401 @cindex ding mailing list
29402 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
29403 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful. You can also ask on
29404 @email{ding@@gnus.org, the ding mailing list}. Write to
29405 @email{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
29409 @node Gnus Reference Guide
29410 @section Gnus Reference Guide
29412 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
29413 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
29414 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
29415 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
29418 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
29419 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
29420 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
29421 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
29422 and general methods of operation.
29425 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
29426 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
29427 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
29428 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
29429 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
29430 * Group Info:: The group info format.
29431 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
29432 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
29433 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
29437 @node Gnus Utility Functions
29438 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
29439 @cindex Gnus utility functions
29440 @cindex utility functions
29442 @cindex internal variables
29444 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
29445 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
29446 Below is a list of the most common ones.
29450 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
29451 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
29452 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
29454 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
29455 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
29456 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
29458 @item gnus-group-real-name
29459 @findex gnus-group-real-name
29460 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
29463 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
29464 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
29465 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
29466 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
29468 @item gnus-get-info
29469 @findex gnus-get-info
29470 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
29472 @item gnus-group-unread
29473 @findex gnus-group-unread
29474 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
29478 @findex gnus-active
29479 The active entry for @var{group}.
29481 @item gnus-set-active
29482 @findex gnus-set-active
29483 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
29485 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
29486 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
29487 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
29490 @item gnus-continuum-version
29491 @findex gnus-continuum-version
29492 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
29493 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
29496 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
29497 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
29498 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
29500 @item gnus-news-group-p
29501 @findex gnus-news-group-p
29502 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
29504 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
29505 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
29506 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
29508 @item gnus-server-to-method
29509 @findex gnus-server-to-method
29510 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
29512 @item gnus-server-equal
29513 @findex gnus-server-equal
29514 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
29516 @item gnus-group-native-p
29517 @findex gnus-group-native-p
29518 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
29520 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
29521 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
29522 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
29524 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
29525 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
29526 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
29528 @item gnus-group-find-parameter
29529 @findex gnus-group-find-parameter
29530 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
29531 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
29533 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
29534 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
29535 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
29537 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
29538 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
29539 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
29541 @item gnus-check-backend-function
29542 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
29543 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
29544 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
29547 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
29551 @item gnus-read-method
29552 @findex gnus-read-method
29553 Prompts the user for a select method.
29558 @node Back End Interface
29559 @subsection Back End Interface
29561 Gnus doesn't know anything about @acronym{NNTP}, spools, mail or virtual
29562 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
29563 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
29564 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
29565 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
29566 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
29568 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
29569 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
29570 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
29571 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
29572 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
29573 been opened, the function should fail.
29575 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
29576 name. Take this example:
29580 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
29581 (nntp-port-number 4324))
29584 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
29585 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
29587 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
29588 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
29589 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
29591 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
29592 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
29593 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
29595 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
29596 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
29597 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
29598 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
29599 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
29600 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
29603 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
29604 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
29605 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
29606 ---they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
29609 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
29610 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
29611 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
29612 possible for later articles to ``re-use'' older article numbers without
29613 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
29614 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
29615 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
29616 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
29617 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
29618 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
29620 The previous paragraph already mentions all the ``hard'' restrictions that
29621 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
29622 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
29623 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
29624 the ``no-reuse'' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
29625 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
29626 of numbers as long as possible.
29628 Note that by convention, back ends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
29629 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
29630 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
29632 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
29635 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
29638 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
29639 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
29640 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
29641 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
29642 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
29643 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
29647 @node Required Back End Functions
29648 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
29652 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
29654 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
29655 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
29656 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
29657 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
29659 The result data should either be HEADs or @acronym{NOV} lines, and the result
29660 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
29661 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
29662 of HEADs and @acronym{NOV} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
29664 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching ``extra
29665 headers'', in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
29666 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
29667 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
29668 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
29669 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
29670 number, do maximum fetches.
29672 Here's an example HEAD:
29675 221 1056 Article retrieved.
29676 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
29677 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
29678 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
29679 Subject: Re: Something very droll
29680 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
29681 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
29683 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
29684 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
29685 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
29689 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
29690 these in the data buffer.
29692 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
29696 head = error / valid-head
29697 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
29698 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
29699 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
29700 header = <text> eol
29704 (The version of BNF used here is the one used in RFC822.)
29706 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
29707 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
29711 nov-buffer = *nov-line
29712 nov-line = field 7*8[ <TAB> field ] eol
29713 field = <text except TAB>
29716 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
29720 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
29722 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
29723 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
29725 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
29726 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
29727 server. In fact, it should do so.
29729 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
29730 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
29733 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
29735 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
29736 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
29739 There should be no data returned.
29742 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
29744 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
29745 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
29746 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
29747 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
29749 There should be no data returned.
29752 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
29754 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
29755 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
29756 non-@code{nil} value. This function should under no circumstances
29757 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
29759 There should be no data returned.
29762 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
29764 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
29766 There should be no data returned.
29769 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
29771 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
29772 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
29773 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
29774 it would be nice if that were possible.
29776 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
29777 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
29778 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
29779 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
29780 into its article buffer.
29782 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
29783 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
29784 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
29785 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
29786 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
29787 on successful article retrieval.
29790 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
29792 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
29793 making @var{group} the current group.
29795 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
29798 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
29801 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
29804 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
29805 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
29806 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
29807 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
29808 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
29809 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
29810 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
29811 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
29812 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
29816 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
29817 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
29818 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
29822 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
29824 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
29825 a no-op on most back ends.
29827 There should be no data returned.
29830 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
29832 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
29835 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
29838 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
29839 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
29842 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
29843 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
29844 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
29845 and the highest as 0.
29848 active-file = *active-line
29849 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
29851 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
29854 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
29855 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
29856 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
29859 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
29861 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
29862 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
29863 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
29864 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
29865 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
29866 clear if the posting could not be completed.
29868 There should be no result data from this function.
29873 @node Optional Back End Functions
29874 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
29878 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
29880 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
29881 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
29882 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
29884 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
29885 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
29886 former is in the same format as the data from
29887 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
29888 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
29891 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
29895 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
29897 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
29898 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all
29899 the information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
29900 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
29901 should return a non-@code{nil} value (exceptionally,
29902 @code{nntp-request-update-info} always returns @code{nil} not to waste
29903 the network resources).
29905 There should be no result data from this function.
29908 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
29910 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
29911 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
29912 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
29913 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
29914 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
29915 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
29916 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
29917 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
29919 There should be no result data from this function.
29922 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
29924 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
29925 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
29926 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @acronym{IMAP}) however carry
29927 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
29928 propagate the mark information to the server.
29930 @var{action} is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
29933 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
29936 @var{range} is a range of articles you wish to update marks on.
29937 @var{action} is @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove
29938 marks (preserving all marks not mentioned). @var{mark} is a list of
29939 marks; where each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are
29940 @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
29941 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
29942 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
29943 possible, not limit itself to these.
29945 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
29946 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
29947 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
29948 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
29950 An example action list:
29953 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
29954 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
29955 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
29958 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
29959 mark on (currently not used for anything).
29961 There should be no result data from this function.
29963 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
29965 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
29966 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
29967 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
29968 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
29969 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
29971 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
29972 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
29973 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
29976 There should be no result data from this function.
29979 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
29981 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
29982 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
29983 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query
29984 the @acronym{POP} server when this function is invoked. The
29985 @var{group} doesn't have to be heeded---if the back end decides that
29986 it is too much work just scanning for a single group, it may do a
29987 total scan of all groups. It would be nice, however, to keep things
29988 local if that's practical.
29990 There should be no result data from this function.
29993 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
29995 The result data from this function should be a description of
29999 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
30001 description = <text>
30004 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
30006 The result data from this function should be the description of all
30007 groups available on the server.
30010 description-buffer = *description-line
30014 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
30016 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
30017 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
30018 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
30019 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
30020 in the active buffer format.
30022 It is okay for this function to return ``too many'' groups; some back ends
30023 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
30024 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
30025 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
30026 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
30027 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
30028 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
30031 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
30033 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
30035 There should be no return data.
30038 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
30040 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
30041 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
30042 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
30043 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
30044 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
30047 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
30050 There should be no result data returned.
30053 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM &optional LAST)
30055 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
30056 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
30058 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
30059 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
30060 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
30061 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
30062 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
30063 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
30065 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
30066 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
30069 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
30070 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
30072 There should be no data returned.
30075 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
30077 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
30078 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
30079 this function in short order.
30081 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
30082 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
30084 The group should exist before the back end is asked to accept the
30085 article for that group.
30087 There should be no data returned.
30090 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
30092 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
30093 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
30095 There should be no data returned.
30098 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
30100 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
30101 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
30102 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
30104 There should be no data returned.
30107 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
30109 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
30110 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
30112 There should be no data returned.
30117 @node Error Messaging
30118 @subsubsection Error Messaging
30120 @findex nnheader-report
30121 @findex nnheader-get-report
30122 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
30123 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
30124 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
30125 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
30126 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
30127 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
30130 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
30132 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
30135 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
30136 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
30137 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
30138 takes one argument---the server symbol.
30140 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
30141 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
30142 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
30145 @node Writing New Back Ends
30146 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
30148 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
30149 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
30150 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
30151 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
30152 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
30155 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
30156 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
30157 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
30159 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
30160 package called @code{nnoo}.
30162 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
30163 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
30169 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
30170 parameters. For instance:
30173 (nnoo-declare nndir
30177 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
30178 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
30181 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
30182 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
30183 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
30185 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
30186 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
30187 a function in those back ends.
30190 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
30191 "Where nndir will look for groups."
30192 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
30195 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
30196 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
30197 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
30199 @item nnoo-define-basics
30200 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
30204 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
30208 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
30209 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
30210 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
30212 @item nnoo-map-functions
30213 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
30214 functions from the parent back ends.
30217 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
30218 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
30219 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
30222 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
30223 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
30224 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
30225 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
30228 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
30229 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
30230 haven't already been defined.
30236 nnmh-request-newgroups)
30240 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
30241 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
30242 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
30247 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
30250 ;;; @r{nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus}
30251 ;; @r{Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.}
30255 (require 'nnheader)
30259 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
30261 (nnoo-declare nndir
30264 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
30265 "Where nndir will look for groups."
30266 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
30268 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
30269 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
30272 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
30274 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
30275 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
30276 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
30278 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
30279 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
30281 ;;; @r{Interface functions.}
30283 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
30285 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
30286 (setq nndir-directory
30287 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
30289 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
30290 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
30291 (push `(nndir-current-group
30292 ,(file-name-nondirectory
30293 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
30295 (push `(nndir-top-directory
30296 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
30298 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
30300 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
30301 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
30302 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
30303 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
30304 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
30308 nnmh-status-message
30310 nnmh-request-newgroups))
30316 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
30317 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
30319 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
30320 @findex gnus-declare-backend
30321 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
30322 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
30323 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
30325 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
30326 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
30331 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
30334 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
30336 The abilities can be:
30340 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
30342 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
30344 This back end supports both mail and news.
30346 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
30349 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
30350 articles and groups.
30352 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
30353 true for almost all back ends.
30354 @item prompt-address
30355 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
30356 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
30357 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
30361 @node Mail-like Back Ends
30362 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
30364 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
30365 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
30366 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
30367 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
30370 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
30371 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
30372 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
30375 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
30376 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
30379 This function takes four parameters.
30383 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
30386 @item exit-function
30387 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
30389 @item temp-directory
30390 Where the temporary files should be stored.
30393 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
30394 performed for one group only.
30397 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
30398 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
30399 find the article number assigned to this article.
30401 The function also uses the following variables:
30402 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
30403 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
30404 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
30405 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
30409 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
30410 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
30414 @node Score File Syntax
30415 @subsection Score File Syntax
30417 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
30418 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
30419 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
30421 Here's a typical score file:
30425 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
30432 BNF definition of a score file:
30435 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
30436 element = rule / atom
30437 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
30438 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
30439 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
30440 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
30442 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
30443 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
30444 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
30445 date-header = "date"
30446 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
30447 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
30448 score = "nil" / <integer>
30449 date = "nil" / <natural number>
30450 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
30451 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
30452 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
30453 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
30454 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
30455 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
30456 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
30457 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
30458 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
30459 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
30460 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
30461 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
30462 exclude-files / read-only / touched
30463 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
30464 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
30465 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
30466 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
30467 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
30468 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
30469 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
30470 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
30471 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
30472 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
30473 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
30474 eval = "eval" space <form>
30475 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
30478 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
30481 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
30482 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
30483 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
30484 one looong line, then that's ok.
30486 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
30487 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
30491 @subsection Headers
30493 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
30494 corresponds to the @acronym{NOV} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
30495 almost suspect that the author looked at the @acronym{NOV} specification and
30496 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
30498 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
30499 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
30500 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
30501 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
30502 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
30503 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
30504 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
30506 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
30507 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
30508 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
30509 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
30510 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
30512 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
30513 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
30519 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
30520 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
30522 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
30523 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
30524 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
30525 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
30527 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
30531 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
30534 is transformed into
30537 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
30540 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
30541 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
30544 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
30547 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
30548 is slightly tricky:
30551 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
30557 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
30560 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
30566 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
30573 and is equal to the previous range.
30575 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
30576 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
30577 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
30581 range = simple-range / normal-range
30582 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
30583 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
30584 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
30585 number *[ " " contents ]
30588 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
30589 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
30590 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
30591 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
30592 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
30597 @subsection Group Info
30599 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
30600 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
30601 describes the group.
30603 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
30604 second is a more complex one:
30607 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
30609 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
30610 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
30612 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
30615 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
30616 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
30617 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
30618 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
30619 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
30620 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
30621 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
30622 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
30623 this section is about.
30625 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
30626 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
30627 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
30629 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
30632 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
30633 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
30634 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
30635 group = quote <string> quote
30636 ralevel = rank / level
30637 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
30638 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
30639 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
30641 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
30642 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
30643 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
30644 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
30647 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
30648 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
30651 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
30652 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
30655 @item gnus-info-group
30656 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
30657 @findex gnus-info-group
30658 @findex gnus-info-set-group
30659 Get/set the group name.
30661 @item gnus-info-rank
30662 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
30663 @findex gnus-info-rank
30664 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
30665 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
30667 @item gnus-info-level
30668 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
30669 @findex gnus-info-level
30670 @findex gnus-info-set-level
30671 Get/set the group level.
30673 @item gnus-info-score
30674 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
30675 @findex gnus-info-score
30676 @findex gnus-info-set-score
30677 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
30679 @item gnus-info-read
30680 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
30681 @findex gnus-info-read
30682 @findex gnus-info-set-read
30683 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
30685 @item gnus-info-marks
30686 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
30687 @findex gnus-info-marks
30688 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
30689 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
30691 @item gnus-info-method
30692 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
30693 @findex gnus-info-method
30694 @findex gnus-info-set-method
30695 Get/set the group select method.
30697 @item gnus-info-params
30698 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
30699 @findex gnus-info-params
30700 @findex gnus-info-set-params
30701 Get/set the group parameters.
30704 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
30705 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
30707 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
30708 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
30709 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
30710 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
30713 @node Extended Interactive
30714 @subsection Extended Interactive
30715 @cindex interactive
30716 @findex gnus-interactive
30718 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
30719 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
30720 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
30723 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
30724 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
30729 The best thing to do would have been to implement
30730 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
30731 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
30732 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
30733 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
30734 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
30735 @code{interactive}.
30737 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
30742 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
30743 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
30747 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
30748 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
30749 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
30752 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
30756 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
30760 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
30766 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
30767 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
30771 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
30772 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
30773 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
30775 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
30776 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
30777 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
30778 Gnus, that's very useful.
30780 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
30781 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
30782 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
30783 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
30784 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
30785 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
30786 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
30787 following function:
30790 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
30794 (,function ,@@args))
30798 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
30799 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
30800 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
30803 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
30804 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
30805 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
30807 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
30808 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
30809 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
30812 @node Various File Formats
30813 @subsection Various File Formats
30816 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
30817 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
30821 @node Active File Format
30822 @subsubsection Active File Format
30824 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
30825 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
30828 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
30831 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
30832 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
30833 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
30834 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
30835 no.general 1000 900 y
30838 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
30841 active = *group-line
30842 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
30843 group = <non-white-space string>
30845 high-number = <non-negative integer>
30846 low-number = <positive integer>
30847 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
30850 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
30851 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
30854 @node Newsgroups File Format
30855 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
30857 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
30858 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
30859 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
30862 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
30863 Here's the definition:
30867 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
30868 group = <non-white-space string>
30870 description = <string>
30875 @node Emacs for Heathens
30876 @section Emacs for Heathens
30878 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
30879 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
30880 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
30881 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
30882 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
30883 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
30884 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
30888 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
30889 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
30894 @subsection Keystrokes
30898 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
30901 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
30904 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
30905 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
30906 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
30907 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
30908 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
30909 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
30911 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
30912 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
30913 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
30914 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
30915 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
30916 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
30917 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
30919 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
30920 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
30921 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
30922 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
30923 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
30924 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
30925 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
30927 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
30928 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
30929 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
30930 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
30931 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
30937 @subsection Emacs Lisp
30939 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
30940 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
30941 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
30942 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
30944 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
30945 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
30946 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
30947 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
30948 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
30949 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
30950 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{~/.gnus.el}
30951 file to customize Gnus. (You can also use the @file{~/.emacs} file, but
30952 in order to set things of Gnus up, it is much better to use the
30953 @file{~/.gnus.el} file, @xref{Startup Files}.)
30955 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
30956 write the following:
30959 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
30962 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
30963 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
30964 you can go and fill your @file{~/.gnus.el} file with lots of these to
30965 change how Gnus works.
30967 If you have put that thing in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, it will be
30968 read and @code{eval}ed (which is Lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
30969 start Gnus. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
30970 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
30971 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
30973 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
30974 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
30975 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
30979 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
30983 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
30986 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
30987 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
30990 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
30993 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
30994 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
30997 @include gnus-faq.texi
30999 @node GNU Free Documentation License
31000 @chapter GNU Free Documentation License
31001 @include doclicense.texi
31021 @c Local Variables:
31023 @c coding: iso-8859-1
31027 arch-tag: c9fa47e7-78ca-4681-bda9-9fef45d1c819